THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

GIFT 
Mrs.  Howard  Hill 


<Uii 


SOME  SALIENT  POINTS 


IN   THE 


SCIENCE   OF   THE   EARTH 


SIR    J.    WILLIAM  [IDAWSON 

C.M.G.,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  F.G.S.,  &c. 


WITH  FORTY-SIX  ILLUSTRATIONS 


NEW    YORK 

HARPER    &    BROTHERS    PUBLISHERS 
1894 


PREFACE. 

'TPHE  present  work  contains  much  that  is  new,  and 
much  in  correction  and  amplification  of  that 
which  is  old ;  and  is  intended  as  a  closing  deliverance 
on  some  of  the  more  important  questions  of  geology, 
on  the  part  of  a  veteran  worker,  conversant  in  his 
younger  days  with  those  giants  of  the  last  generation, 
who,  in  the  heroic  age  of  geological  science,  piled  up 
the  mountains  on  which  it  is  now  the  privilege  of  their 
successors  to  stand. 

J.  W.  D. 

Montreal  1893. 


CON  TENTS. 


CHAPTER  I.  fAce 

THE  STARTING-POINT 3 

CHAPTER  H. 
WORLD-MAKING 9 

CHAPTER  III. 
THE  IMPERFECTION  OF  THE  GEOLOGICAL  RECORD      ...      39 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  NORTH  ATLANTIC  .        .        .        .        -57 

CHAPTER  V. 
THE  DAWN  OF  LIFE 95 

CHAPTER  VI. 
WHAT  MAY  BE  LEARNED  FROM  EOZOON 135 

CHAPTER  VII. 
THE  APPARITION  AND  SUCCESSION  OF  ANIMAL  FORMS     .        .     169 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
THE  GENESIS  AND  MIGRATIONS  OF  PLANTS        ....    201 

CHAPTER  IX. 
THE  GROWTH  OF  COAL 233 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  X.  PAGE 

THE  OLDEST  AIR-BREATHERS      .        .        .        .        .        .        .    257 

CHAPTER  XL 
MARKINGS,  FOOTPRINTS,  AND  Fucoios       .        .        .        .-%      .    311 

CHAPTER  XII. 
PRE-DETERMINATION  IN  NATURE 329 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
THE  GREAT  ICE  AGE 345 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
CAUSES  OF  CLIMATAL  CHANGE 363 

CHAPTER  XV. 
THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  ANIMALS  AND  PLANTS  AS  RELATED  TO 

GEOGRAPHICAL  AND  GEOLOGICAL  CHANGES      .        .        .    401 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
ALPINE  AND  ARCTIC  PLANTS  IN  CONNECTION  WITH  GEOLOGICAL 

HISTORY      .        .        .        .        .        .     '.  .       .        .        .    425 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
EARLY  MAN 459 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
MAN  IN  NATUR     .  481 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Cape  Trinity  on  the  Snguenay          .....         Frontispiece 

Folding  of  the  Earth's  Crust   .         .          ....        To  face  9 

Cambro-Silurian  Sponges        ......             ,,  39 

Map  of  the  North  Atlantic ,,  57 

Nature-print  of  Eozoon ,,  95 

Laurentian  Hills,  Lower  St.  Lawrence 100 

Section  from  Petite  Nation  Seigniory  to  St.  Jerome          .         .         .  101 

The  Laurentian  Nucleus  of  the  American  Continent         .         .         .  103 

Attitude  of  Limestone  at  St.  Pierre 109 

Weathered  Eozoon  and  Canals To  face  112 

U3 

Group  of  Canals  in  Eozoon .115 

Amoeba  and  Actinophrys 119 

Minute  Foraminiferal  Forms 123 

Section  of  a  Nummulite 127 

Portion  of  Shell  of  Calcarina 128 

Weathered  Eozoon  with  Oscular  tubes     ....         To  face  135 
Diagram  showing  different  States  of  Fossilization  of  a   Cell  of  a 

Tabulate  Coral 139 

Slice  of  Crystalline  Lower  Silurian  Limestone          .         .         .         .141 

Walls  of  Eozoon  penetrated  with  Canals  .         .         .         .         .141 

Joint  of  a  Crinoid   ..........  145 

Shell  from  a  Silurian  Limestone,  Wales  ......  146 

Casts  of  Canals  of  Eozoon  in  Serpentine 147 

Canals  of  Eozoon 147 

Primordial  Trilobites To  face  169 

Primitive  Fishes ,,  i84 

Devonian  Forest .                      ,,  201 

Coal  Section  in  Nova  Scotia „  233 

1* 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Skeleton  of  Hylonoinus  Lydli To  face  257 

Footprints  of  Hylopus  Logani          .         .         .         .         .  , ,  260 

Humerus  and  Jaws  of  Dendrerpeton         ....  ,,  272 

Reptiliferous  Tree ,,  276 

Microsaurian,  restored ,,  278 

Dolichosoma  longissimum,  restored  .....  ,,  286 

Pupa  and  Conulus , ,  288 

Millipedes  and  Insect .  ,,  296 

Footprints  of  Limulus ,,  311 

Rusichnites  Grenvillensis ,,  322 

Restoration  of  Protospongia  tetranenia     ....  ,,  329 

Giant  Net-sponge ,        .        .  ,,  33$ 

Boulder  Beach,  Little  Metis    .        .        .         .                 ."  ,,  345 

Palaeogeography  of  North  America         ....  ,,3^3 

Distribution  of  Animals  in  Time .,401 

Tuckerman's  Ravine  and  Mount  Washington  ...  .,  425 

Pre-historic  Skulls „  459 

Primitive  Sculpture         ...                  ...  ,,  481 


TABLE    OF    GEOLOGICAL    HISTORY. 


NON-GEOLOGICAL  readers  will  find  in  the  following  table  a 
condensed  explanation  of  the  more  important  technical  terms 
used  in  the  following  pages.  The  order  is  from  older  to 
newer. 


GREATER 
PERIODS. 

SYSTEMS  OF 
FORMATIONS. 

CHARACTERISTIC  FOSSILS. 

ARCH^AN  OR 
Eozoic 

Pre-Laurentian 
Laurentian 

Protozoa                   Protophyta 

PALEOZOIC 

Huronian 
Cambrian 
Cambro-  Silurian* 
Silurian  t 
Devonian 
Carboniferous 
Permian 

(  Crustaceans            Algse 
J  Molluscs                  Cryptogamous 
j  Worms                            and 
(  Corals,  etc,              Gymnospermous 
Fishes                              Plants. 
Amphibians 

MESOZOIC 

Triassic 
Jurassic 
Cretaceous 

(Reptiles                         Pines  and 
Birds                                 Cycads 
Earliest  Mammals.  Trees  of  modern 
types. 

KAINOZOIC  OR 
TERTIARY 

Eocene 
Miocene 
Pliocene 
Pleistocene 
Modern 

Higher  Mammals 
of  extinct  forms 
Recent  Mammals      Modern  Plants, 
and 
Man. 

*  Ordovician  of  Lapworth. 


f  Salopian  of  Lapworth. 


THE  STARTING-POINT. 


DEDICATED   TO   THE   MEMORY   OF 
PROF.    ROBERT   JAMESON, 

OP  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  EDINBURGH,  MY  FIRST  TEACHER  IN  GEOLOGY, 

WHOSE  LECTURES  I  ATTENDED,  AND  WHOSE  KIND  ADVICE  AND 

GUIDANCE  I  ENJOYED,  IN  THE  WINTER  OF  1840-1841. 


HEADLANDS  AND  SPURS — POPULAR  PAPERS  ON  LEADING 
TOPICS — REVISITING  OLD  LOCALITIES — DEDICATIONS — 
GENERAL  SCOPE  OF  THE  WORK 


CHAPTER  I. 
THE  STARTING-POINT. 

AN  explorer  trudging  along  some  line  of  coast,  or  traversing 
some  mountain  region,  may  now  and  then  reach  a  pro- 
jecting headland,  or  bold  mountain  spur,  which  may  enable 
him  to  command  a  wide  view  of  shore  and  sea,  or  of  hill  and 
valley,  before  and  behind.  On  such  a  salient  point  he  may 
sit  down,  note-book  and  glass  in  hand,  and  endeavour  to  cor- 
relate the  observations  made  on  the  ground  he  has  traversed, 
and  may  strain  his  eyes  forward  in  order  to  anticipate  the 
features  of  the  track  in  advance.  Such  are  the  salient  points 
in  a  scientific  pilgrimage  of  more  than  half  a  century,  to  which 
I  desire  to  invite  the  attention  of  the  readers  of  these  papers. 
In  doing  so,  I  do  not  propose  to  refer,  except  incidentally,  to 
subjects  which  I  have  already  discussed  in  books  accessible  to 
general  readers,  but  rather  to  those  which  are  imbedded  in 
little  accessible  transactions,  or  scientific  periodicals,  or  which 
have  fallen  out  of  print.  I  cannot  therefore  pretend  to  place 
the  reader  on  all  the  salient  points  of  geological  science,  or 
even  on  all  of  those  I  have  myself  reached,  but  merely  to  lead 
him  to  some  of  the  viewing-places  which  I  have  found  particu- 
larly instructive  to  myself. 

For  similar  reasons  it  is  inevitable  that  a  certain  personal 
element  shall  enter  into  these  reminiscences,  though  this  auto- 
biographical feature  will  be  kept  as  much  in  the  background 
as  possible.  It  is  also  to  be  anticipated  that  the  same  subject 


THE   STARTING-POINT 


may  appear  more  than  once,  but  from  different  points  of  view, 
since  it  is  often  useful  to  contemplate  certain  features  of  the 
landscape  from  more  than  one  place  of  observation. 

To  drop  the  figure,  the  reader  will  find  in  these  papers,  in  a 
plain  and  popular  form,  yet  it  is  hoped  not  in  a  superficial 
manner,  some  of  the  more  important  conclusions  of  a  geo- 
logical worker  of  the  old  school,  who,  while  necessarily  giving 
attention  to  certain  specialties,  has  endeavoured  to  take  a 
broad  and  comprehensive  view  of  the  making  of  the  world  in 
all  its  aspects. 

The  papers  are  of  various  dates  ;  but  in  revising  them  for 
publication  I  have  endeavoured,  without  materially  changing 
their  original  form,  to  bring  them  up  to  the  present  time,  and 
to  state  any  corrections  or  changes  of  view  that  have  com- 
mended themselves  to  me  in  the  meantime.  Such  changes  or 
modifications  of  view  must  of  necessity  occur  to  every  geologi- 
cal worker.  Sometimes,  after  long  digging  and  hammering  in 
some  bed  rich  in  fossils,  and  carrying  home  a  bag  laden  with 
treasures,  one  has  returned  to  the  spot,  and  turned  over  the 
debris  of  previous  excavation,  with  the  result  of  finding  some- 
thing rare  and  valuable,  before  overlooked.  Or,  in  carefully 
trimming  and  chiselling  out  the  matrix  of  a  new  fossil,  so  as 
to  uncover  all  its  parts,  unexpected  and  novel  features  may 
develop  themselves.  Thus,  if  we  were  right  or  partially  right 
before,  our  new  experience  may  still  enable  us  to  enlarge  our 
views  or  to  correct  some  misapprehensions.  In  that  spirit  I 
have  endeavoured  to  revise  these  papers,  and  while  I  have 
been  able  to  add  confirmations  of  views  long  ago  expressed, 
have  been  willing  to  accept  corrections  and  modifications  based 
on  later  discoveries. 

In  the  somewhat  extended  span  of  work  which  has  been 
allotted  to  me,  I  have  made  it  my  object  to  discover  new  facts, 
and  to  this  end  have  spared  no  expenditure  of  time  and 
labour ;  but  I  have  felt  that  the  results  of  discoveries  in  the 


THE   STARTING-POINT  5 


works  of  God  should  not  be  confined  to  a  coterie,  but  should 
be  made  public  for  the  benefit  of  all.  Hence  I  have  gladly 
embraced  any  opportunities  to  popularise  my  results,  whether 
in  lectures,  articles,  popular  books,  or  in  the  instruction  of 
students,  and  this  in  a  manner  to  give  accurate  knowledge, 
and  perhaps  to  attract  the  attention  of  fellow-workers  to  points 
which  they  might  overlook  if  presented  merely  in  dry  and 
technical  papers.  These  objects  I  have  in  view  in  connection 
with  the  present  collection  of  papers,  and  also  the  fact  that  my 
own  pilgrimage  is  approaching  its  close,  and  that  I  desire  to 
aid  others  who  may  chance  to  traverse  the  ground  I  have 
passed  over,  or  who  may  be  preparing  to  pass  beyond  the 
point  I  have  reached. 

To  a  naturalist  of  seventy  years  the  greater  part  of  life  lies 
in  the  past,  and  in  revising  these  papers  I  have  necessarily  had 
my  thoughts  directed  to  the  memory  of  friends,  teachers, 
guides,  and  companions  in  labour,  who  have  passed  away.  I 
have  therefore,  as  a  slight  token  of  loving  and  grateful  remem- 
brance dedicated  these  papers  to  the  memory  of  men  I  have 
known  and  loved,  and  who,  I  feel,  would  sympathise  with  me 
in  spirit,  in  the  attempt,  however  feeble,  to  direct  attention  to 
the  variety  and  majesty  of  those  great  works  of  the  Creator 
which  they  themselves  delighted  to  study. 

Since  the  design  of  these  papers  excludes  special  details  as 
to  Canadian  geology,  or  that  of  those  old  eastern  countries  to 
which  I  have  given  some  attention,  I  must  refer  for  them  to 
other  works,  and  shall  append  such  reference  of  this  kind  as 
may  be  necessary.  At  the  same  time  it  will  be  observed  that 
as  my  geological  work  has  been  concerned  most  largely  with 
the  oldest  and  newest  rocks  of  the  earth,  and  with  the  history 
of  life  rather  than  with  rocks  and  minerals,  there  must  neces- 
sarily be  some  preponderance  in  these  directions,  which  might 
however,  independently  of  personal  considerations,  be  justified 
by  the  actual  value  of  these  lines  of  investigation,  and  by  the 


THE   STARTING-POINT 


special  interest  attaching  to  them  in  the  present  state  of  scien- 
tific discovery. 

Having  thus  defined  my  starting-point,  I  would  now  with  all 
respect  and  deference  ask  the  reader  to  accompany  me  from 
point  to  point,  and  to  examine  for  himself  the  objects  which 
may  appear  either  near,  or  in  the  dim  uncertain  distance,  in 
illustration  of  what  the  world  is,  and  how  it  became  what  it  is. 
Perhaps,  in  doing  so,  he  may  be  able  to  perceive  much  more 
than  I  have  been  able  to  discover ;  and  if  so,  I  shall  rejoice, 
even  if  such  further  insight  should  correct  or  counteract  some 
of  my  own  impressions.  It  is  not  given  to  any  one  age  or  set 
of  men  to  comprehend  all  the  mysteries  of  nature,  or  to  arrive 
at  a  point  where  it  can  be  said,  there  is  no  need  of  farther 
exploration.  Even  in  the  longest  journey  of  the  most  adven- 
turous traveller  there  is  an  end  of  discovery,  and,  in  the  study 
of  nature,  cape  rises  beyond  cape  and  mountain  behind  moun- 
tain interminably.  The  finite  cannot  comprehend  the  infinite, 
the  temporal  the  eternal.  We  need  not,  however,  on  that 
account  be  agnostics,  for  it  is  still  true  that,  within  the  scope 
of  our  narrow  powers  and  opportunities,  the  Supreme  Intelli- 
gence reveals  to  us  in  nature  His  power  and  divinity  ;  and  it  is 
this,  and  this  alone,  that  gives  attraction  and  dignity  to  natural 
science. 


WORLD-MAKING. 

DEDICATED    TO   THE   MEMORY   OF 
ADAM    SEDGWICK   AND    SIR    RODERICK    IMPEY    MURCHISON, 

WHOSE  JOINT  LABOURS  CARRIED 
OUR  KNOWLEDGE  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  EARTH 

TWO  STAGES  FARTHER  BACK, 

AND  WHOSE  DIFFERENCES  OF  OPINION  SERVED  TO  RENDER 
MORE  GLORIOUS  THEIR  VICTORIES. 


CHAPTER  II. 
WORLD-MA  KING. 

EOLOGICAL  reading,  especially  when  of  a  strictly 
VJT  uniformitarian  character  and  in  warm  weather,  some- 
times becomes  monotonous ;  and  I  confess  to  a  feeling  of 
drowsiness  creeping  over  me  when  preparing  material  for  a  pre- 
sidential address  to  the  American  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science  in  August,  1883.  In  these  circumstances  I 
became  aware  of  the  presence  of  an  unearthly  visitor,  who 
announced  himself  as  of  celestial  birth,  and  intimated  to  me 
that  being  himself  free  from  those  restrictions  of  space  and 
time  which  are  so  embarrassing  to  earthly  students,  he  was  pre- 
pared for  the  moment  to  share  these  advantages  with  me,  and 
to  introduce  me  to  certain  outlying  parts  of  the  universe, 
where  I  might  learn  something  of  its  origin  and  early  history. 
He  took  my  hand,  and  instantly  we  were  in  the  voids  of  space. 
Turning  after  a  moment,  he  pointed  to  a  small  star  and  said, 
"That  is  the  star  you  call  the  sun ;  here,  you  see,  it  is  only  about 
the  third  magnitude,  and  in  a  few  seconds  it  will  disappear." 
These  few  seconds,  indeed,  reduced  the  whole  visible  firma- 
ment to  a  mere  nebulous  haze  like  the  Milky  Way,  and  we 
seemed  to  be  in  blank  space.  But  pausing  for  a  moment  I 
became  aware  that  around  us  were  multitudes  of  dark  bodies, 
so  black  that  they  were,  so  to  speak,  negatively  visible,  even 
in  the  almost  total  darkness  around.  Some  seemed  large 
and  massive,  some  a  mere  drift  of  minute  particles,  formless 
and  without  distinct  limits.  Some  were  swiftly  moving,  others 


10  WORLD-MAKING 


stationary,  or  merely  revolving  on  their  own  axes.  It  was  a 
"  horror  of  great  darkness,"  and  I  trembled  with  fear.  "This," 
said  my  guide,  "is  what  the  old  Hebrew  seer  called  tohu  ve 
bohu,  '  formless  and  void,'  the  '  Tiamat '  or  abyss  of  the  old 
Chaldeans,  the  '  chaos  and  old  night '  of  the  Greeks.  Your 
mundane  physicists  have  not  seen  it,  but  they  speculate  re- 
garding it,  and  occupy  themselves  with  questions  as  to  whether 
it  can  be  lightened  and  vivified  by  mere  attractive  force,  or  by 
collision  of  dark  bodies  impinging  on  each  other  with  vast 
momentum.  Their  speculations  are  vain,  and  lead  to  nothing, 
because  they  have  no  data  wherefrom  to  calculate  the  in- 
finite and  eternal  Power  who  determined  either  the  attraction 
or  the  motion,  or  who  willed  which  portion  of  this  chaos 
was  to  become  cosmos,  and  which  was  to  remain  for  ever 
dead  and  dark.  Let  us  turn,  however,  to  a  more  hopeful 
prospect."  We  sped  away  to  another  scene.  Here  were 
vast  luminous  bodies,  such  as  we  call  nebulae.  Some  were 
globular,  others  disc-like,  others  annular  or  like  spiral  wisps, 
and  some  were  composed  of  several  concentric  shells  or  rings. 
All  were  in  rapid  rotation,  and  presented  a  glorious  and  bril- 
liant spectacle.  "  This,"  said  my  guide,  "  is  matter  of  the  same 
kind  with  that  we  have  just  been  considering ;  but  it  has  been 
set  in  active  motion.  The  fiat  '  Let  there  be  light ! '  has  been 
issued  to  it.  Nor  is  its  motion  in  vain.  Each  of  these  ne- 
bulous masses  is  the  material  of  a  system  of  worlds,  and  they 
will  produce  systems  of  different  forms  in  accordance  with  the 
various  shapes  and  motions  which  you  observe.  Such  bodies 
are  well  known  to  earthly  astronomers.  One  of  them,  the  great 
nebula  of  Andromeda,  has  been  photographed,  and  is  a  vast 
system  of  luminous  rings  of  vapour  placed  nearly  edgewise  to 
the  earth,  and  hundreds  of  times  greater  than  the  whole  solar 
system.  But  now  let  us  annihilate  time,  and  consider  these 
gigantic  bodies  as  they  will  be  in  the  course  of  many  millions 
of  years."  Instantaneously  these  vast  nebulae  had  concentrated 


WORLD- MAKING  II 


themselves  into  systems  of  suns  and  planets,  but  with  this 
difference  from  ours,  that  the  suns  were  very  large  and  sur- 
rounded with  a  wide  luminous  haze,  and  each  of  the  planets 
was  self-luminous,  like  a  little  sun.  In  some  the  planets  were 
dancing  up  and  down  in  spiral  lines.  In  others  they  were 
moving  in  one  plane.  In  still  others,  in  every  variety  of 
direction.  Some  had  vast  numbers  of  little  planets  and 
satellites.  Others  had  a  few  of  larger  size.  There  were  even 
some  of  these  systems  that  had  a  pair  of  central  suns  of  con- 
trasting colours.  The  whole  scene  was  so  magnificent  and 
beautiful  that  I  thought  I  could  never  weary  of  gazing  on  it. 
"  Here,"  said  he,  "  we  have  the  most  beautiful  condition  of 
systems  of  worlds,  when  considered  from  a  merely  physical  point 
of  view :  the  perfection  of  solar  and  planetary  luminousness,  but 
which  is  destined  to  pass  away  in  the  interest  of  things  more 
important,  if  less  showy.  This  is  the  condition  of  the  great 
star  Sirius,  which  the  old  priest  astronomers  of  the  Nile 
Valley  made  so  much  of  in  their  science  and  religion,  and 
which  they  called  Sothis.  It  is  now  known  by  your  star- 
gazers  to  be  vastly  larger  than  your  sun,  and  fifty  times  more 
brilliant.1  Let  us  select  one  of  these  systems  somewhat 
similar  to  the  solar  system,  and  suppose  that  the  luminous 
atmospheres  of  its  nearer  planets  are  beginning  to  wane  in 
brilliancy.  Here  is  one  of  them,  through  whose  halo  of  light 
we  can  see  the  body  of  the  planet.  What  do  you  now  per- 
ceive ?"  The  planet  referred  to  was  somewhat  larger  in  appear- 
ance than  our  earth,  and,  approaching  near  to  it,  I  could  see 
that  it  had  a  cloud-bearing  firmament,  and  that  it  seemed  to 
have  continents  and  oceans,  though  disposed  in  more  regular 
forms  than  on  our  own  planet,  and  with  a  smaller  proportion 
of  land.  Looking  at  it  more  closely,  I  searched  in  vain  for 

1  In  evidence  of  these  and  other  statements  I  may  refer  to  Huggins' 
recent  address  as  President  of  the  British  Association,  and  to  the  "  Story 
of  the  Heavens,"  etc.,  by  Sir  Robert  Ball. 


12  WORLD-MAKING 


any  sign  of  animal  life,  but  I  saw  a  vast  profusion  of  what 
might  be  plants,  but  not  like  those  of  this  world.1  These  were 
trees  of  monstrous  stature,  and  their  leaves,  which  were  of 
great  size  and  shaped  like  fronds  of  seaweeds,  were  not  usually 
green,  but  variegated  with  red,  crimson  and  orange.  The  sur- 
face of  the  land  looked  like  beds  of  gigantic  specimens  of 
Colias  and  similar  variegated-leaved  plants,  the  whole  present- 
ing a  most  gorgeous  yet  grotesque  spectacle.  "This,"  said  my 
guide,  "  is  the  primitive  vegetation  which  clothes  each  of  the 
planets  in  its  youthful  state.  The  earth  was  once  so  clothed, 
in  the  time  when  vegetable  life  alone  existed,  and  there  were 
no  animals  to  prey  upon  it,  and  when  the  earth  was,  like  the 
world  you  now  look  upon,  a  paradise  of  plants  ;  for  all  things 
in  nature  are  at  first  in  their  best  estate.  This  vegetation  is 
known  to  you  on  the  earth  only  by  the  Carbon  and  Graphite 
buried  in  your  oldest  rocks.  It  still  lingers  on  your  neighbour 
Mars,2  which  has,  however,  almost  passed  beyond  this  stage, 
and  we  are  looking  forward  before  long  to  see  a  still  more 
gigantic  though  paler  development  of  it  in  altogether  novel 
shapes  on  the  great  continents  that  are  being  formed  on  the 
surface  of  Jupiter.  But  look  again."  And  time  being  again 
annihilated,  I  saw  the  same  world,  now  destitute  of  any 
luminous  envelope,  with  a  few  dark  clouds  in  its  atmosphere, 
and  presenting  just  the  same  appearance  which  I  would  sup- 
pose our  earth  to  present  to  an  astronomer  viewing  it  with  a 
powerful  telescope  from  the  moon.  "  Here  we  are  at  home 
again,"  said  my  guide;  "good-bye."  I  found  myself  nodding 
over  my  table,  and  that  my  pen  had  just  dropped  from  my 
hand,  making  a  large  blot  on  my  paper.  My  dream,  however, 

1  We  shall  see  farther  on  that  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  primitive 
land  vegetation  was  more  different  from  that  of  the  Devonian  and  Carboni- 
ferous than  it  is  from  that  of  the  present  day. 

2  Mars  is  probably  a  stage  behind  the  earth  in  its  development,  and  the 
ruddy  hue  of  its  continents  would  seem  to  b:  due  to  some  organic  covering. 


WORLD- MAKING 


gave  me  a  hint  as  to  a  subject,  and  I  determined  to  devote 
my  address  to  a  consideration  of  questions  which  geology  has 
not  solved,  or  has  only  imperfectly  and  hypothetically  dis- 
cussed. 

Such  unsolved  or  partially  solved  questions  must  necessarily 
exist  in  a  science  which  covers  the  whole  history  of  the  earth 
in  time.  At  the  beginning  it  allies  itself  with  astronomy  and 
physics  and  celestial  chemistry.  At  the  end  it  runs  into 
human  history,  and  is  mixed  up  with  archaeology  and  anthro- 
pology. Throughout  its  whole  course  it  has  to  deal  with 
questions  of  meteorology,  geography  and  biology.  In  short, 
there  is  no  department  of  physical  or  biological  science,  with 
which  this  many-sided  study  is  not  allied,  or  at  least  on  which 
the  geologist  may  not  presume  to  trespass.  When,  therefore, 
it  is  proposed  to  discuss  in  the  present  chapter  some  of  the 
unsolved  problems  and  disputed  questions  of  this  universal 
science,  the  reader  need  not  be  surprised  if  it  should  be  some- 
what discursive. 

Perhaps  we  may  begin  at  the  utmost  limits  of  the  subject  by 
remarking  that  in  matters  of  natural  and  physical  science  we 
are  met  at  the  outset  with  the  scarcely  solved  question  as  to 
our  own  place  in  the  nature  which  we  study,  and  the  bearing 
of  this  on  the  difficulties  we  encounter.  The  organism  of  man 
is  decidedly  a  part  of  nature.  We  place  ourselves,  in  this 
aspect,  in  the  sub-kingdom  vertebrata  and  class  mammalia, 
and  recognise  the  fact  that  man  is  the  terminal  link  in  a  chain 
of  being,  extending  throughout  geological  time.  But  the  or- 
ganism is  not  all  that  belongs  to  man,  and  when  we  regard  him 
as  a  scientific  inquirer,  we  raise  a  new  question.  If  the  human 
mind  is  a  part  of  nature,  then  it  is  subject  to  natural  law, 
and  nature  includes  mind  as  well  as  matter.  Indeed,  without 
being  absolute  idealists  we  may  hold  that  mind  is  more  potent 
than  matter,  and  nearer  to  the  real  essence  of  things.  Our 
science  is  in  any  case  necessarily  dualistic,  being  the  product 


14  WORLD-MAKING 


of  the  reaction  of  mind  on  nature,  and  must  be  largely  sub- 
jective and  anthropomorphic.  Hence,  no  doubt,  arises  much 
of  the  controversy  of  science,  and  much  of  the  unsolved  diffi- 
culty. We  recognise  this  when  we  divide  science  into  that 
which  is  experimental,  or  depends  on  apparatus,  and  that  which 
is  observational  and  classificatory — distinctions  these  which 
relate  not  so  much  to  the  objects  of  science  as  to  our  methods 
of  pursuing  them.  This  view  also  opens  up  to  us  the  thought 
that  the  domain  of  science  is  practically  boundless,  for  who 
can  set  limits  to  the  action  of  mind  on  the  universe,  or  of  the 
universe  on  mind.  It  follows  that  science,  as  it  exists  at  any 
one  time,  must  be  limited  on  all  sides  by  unsolved  mysteries ; 
and  it  will  not  serve  any  good  purpose  to  meet  these  with 
clever  guesses.  If  we  so  treal  the  enigmas  of  the  sphinx 
nature,  we  shall  surely  be  devoured.  Nor,  on  the  other  hand, 
must  we  collapse  into  absolute  despair,  and  resign  ourselves  to 
the  confession  of  inevitable  ignorance.  It  becomes  us  rather 
boldly  to  confront  the  unsolved  questions  of  nature,  and  to 
wrestle  with  their  difficulties  till  we  master  such  as  we  can, 
and  cheerfully  leave  those  we  cannot  overcome  to  be  grappled 
with  by  our  successors. 

Fortunately,  as  a  geologist,  I  do  not  need  to  invite  attention 
to  those  transcendental  questions  which  relate  to  the  ultimate 
constitution  of  matter,  the  nature  of  the  ethereal  medium  filling 
space,  the  absolute  difference  or  identity  of  chemical  elements, 
the  cause  of  gravitation,  the  conservation  and  dissipation  of 
energy,  the  nature  of  life,  or  the  primary  origin  of  bioplasmic 
matter.  I  may  take  the  much  more  humble  role  of  an  in- 
quirer into  the  unsolved  or  partially  solved  problems  which 
meet  us  in  considering  that  short  and  imperfect  record  which 
geology  studies  in  the  rocky  layers  of  the  earth's  crust,  and 
which  leads  no  farther  back  than  to  the  time  when  a  solid 
rind  had  already  formed  on  the  earth,  and  was  already  covered 
with  an  ocean.  This  record  of  geology  covers  but  a  small 


WORLD-MAKING  15 


part  of  the  history  of  the  earth  and  of  the  system  to  which  it 
belongs,  nor  does  it  enter  at  all  into  the  more  recondite 
problems  involved ;  still  it  forms,  I  believe,  some  necessary 
preparation  at  least  to  the  comprehension  of  these.  If  we  are 
to  go  farther  back,  we  must  accept  the  guidance  of  physicists 
rather  than  of  geologists,  and  I  must  say  that  in  this  physical 
cosmology  both  geologists  and  general  readers  are  likely  to 
find  themselves  perplexed  with  the  vagaries  in  which  the  most 
sober  mathematicians  may  indulge.  We  are  told  that  the 
original  condition  of  the  solar  system  was  that  of  a  vaporous 
and  nebulous  cloud  intensely  heated  and  whirling  rapidly 
round,  that  it  probably  came  into  this  condition  by  the  impact 
of  two  dark  solid  bodies  striking  each  other  so  violently,  that 
they  became  intensely  heated  and  resolved  into  the  smallest 
possible  fragments.  Lord  Kelvin  attributes  this  impact  to 
their  being  attracted  together  by  gravitative  force.  Croll 1 
argues  that  in  addition  to  gravitation  these  bodies  must  have 
had  a  proper  motion  of  great  velocity,  which  Lord  Kelvin 
thinks  "  enormously "  improbable,  as  it  would  require  the 
solid  bodies  to  be  shot  against  each  other  with  a  marvellously 
true  aim,  and  this  not  in  the  case  of  the  sun  only,  but  of  all 
the  stars.  It  is  rather  more  improbable  than  it  would  be  to 
affirm  that  in  the  artillery  practice  of  two  opposing  armies, 
cannon  balls  have  thousands  of  times  struck  and  shattered 
each  other  midway  between  the  hostile  batteries.  The  ques- 
tion, we  are  told,  is  one  of  great  moment  to  geologists,  since 
on  the  one  hypothesis  the  duration  of  our  system  has  amounted 
to  only  about  twenty  millions  of  years ;  on  the  other,  it  may 
have  lasted  ten  times  that  number.2  In  any  case  it  seems  a 
strange  way  of  making  systems  of  worlds,  that  they  should 
result  from  the  chance  collision  of  multitudes  of  solid  bodies 

1  "  Stellar  Evolution." 

2  Other  facts  favour  the  shorter  time  (Clarence  King,  Am.fl.  of  Science, 
vol.  xlv.,  3rd  series). 


16  WORLD-MAKING 


rushing  hither  and  thither  in  space,  and  it  is  almost  equally 
strange  to  imagine  an  intelligent  Creator  banging  these  bodies 
about  like  billiard  balls  in  order  to  make  worlds.  Still,  in  that 
case  we  might  imagine  them  not  to  be  altogether  aimless. 
The  question  only  becomes  more  complicated  when  with 
Grove  and  Lockyer  we  try  to  reach  back  to  an  antecedent 
condition,  when  there  are  neither  solid  masses  nor  nebulas, 
but  only  an  inconceivably  tenuous  and  universally  diffused 
medium  made  up  of  an  embryonic  matter,  which  has  not  yet 
even  resolved  itself  into  chemical  elements.  How  this  could 
establish  any  motion  within  itself  tending  to  aggregation  in 
masses,  is  quite  inconceivable.  To  plodding  geologists  labori- 
ously collecting  facts  and  framing  conclusions  therefrom,  such 
flights  of  the  mathematical  mind  seem  like  the  wildest  fan- 
tasies of  dreams.  We  are  glad  to  turn  from  them  to  examine 
those  oldest  rocks,  which  are  to  us  the  foundation  stones  of 
the  earth's  crust. 

What  do  we  know  of  the  oldest  and  most  primitive  rocks  ? 
At  this  moment  the  question  may  be  answered  in  many  and 
discordant  ways  ;  yet  the  leading  elements  of  the  answer  may 
be  given  very  simply.  The  oldest  rock  formation  known  to 
geologists  is  the  Lower  Laurentian,  the  Fundamental  Gneiss, 
the  Lewisian  formation  of  Scotland,  the  Ottawa  gneiss  of 
Canada,  the  lowest  Archaean  crystalline  rocks.  This  forma- 
tion, of  enormous  thickness,  corresponds  to  what  the  older 
geologists  called  the  fundamental  granite,  a  name  not  to  be 
scouted,  for  gneiss  is  only  a  stratified  or  laminated  granite. 
Perhaps  the  main  fact  in  relation  to  this  old  rock  is  that  it  is  a 
gneiss ;  that  is,  a  rock  at  once  bedded  and  crystalline,  and 
having  for  its  dominant  ingredient  the  mineral  orthoclase,  a 
compound  of  silica,  alumina  and  potash,  in  which  are  imbedded, 
as  in  a  paste,  grains  and  crystals  of  quartz  and  hornblende. 
We  know  very  well  from  its  texture  and  composition  that  it 
cannot  be  a  product  of  mere  heat,  and  being  a  bedded  rock 


WORLD-MAKING  I? 


we  infer  that  it  was  laid  down  layer  by  layer  in  the  manner 
of  aqueous  deposits.  On  the  other  hand,  its  chemical  com- 
position is  quite  different  from  that  of  the  muds,  sands  and 
gravels  usually  deposited  from  water.  Their  special  charac- 
ters are  caused  by  the  fact  that  they  have  resulted  from  the 
slow  decay  of  rocks  like  these  gneisses,  under  the  operation  of 
carbon  dioxide  and  water,  whereby  the  alkaline  matter  and 
the  more  soluble  part  of  the  silica  have  been  washed  away, 
leaving  a  residue  mainly  silicious  and  aluminous.  Such 
more  modern  rocks  tell  of  dry  land  subjected  to  atmospheric 
decay  and  ram-wash.  If  they  have  any  direct  relation  to  the 
old  gneisses,  they  are  their  grandchildren,  not  their  parents. 
On  the  contrary,  the  oldest  gneisses  show  no  pebbles  or  sand 
or  limestone — nothing  to  indicate  that  there  was  then  any 
land  undergoing  atmospheric  waste,  or  shores  with  sand 
and  gravel.  For  all  that  we  know  to  the  contrary,  these 
old  gneisses  may  have  been  deposited  in  a  shoreless  sea,  hold- 
ing in  solution  or  suspension  merely  what  it  could  derive 
from  a  submerged  crust  recently  cooled  from  a  state  of  fusion, 
still  thin,  and  exuding  here  and  there  through  its  fissures 
heated  waters  and  volcanic  products.  This,  it  may  be  observed 
here,  is  just  what  we  have  a  right  to  expect,  if  the  earth  was 
once  a  heated  or  fluid  mass,  and  if  our  oldest  Laurentian  rocks 
consist  of  the  first  beds  or  layers  deposited  upon  it,  perhaps  by 
a  heated  ocean.  It  has  been  well  said  that  "  the  secret  of  the 
earth's  hot  youth  has  been  well  kept."  But  with  the  help  of 
physical  science  we  can  guess  at  an  originally  heat-liquefied 
ball  with  denser  matter  at  its  centre,  lighter  and  oxidised 
matter  at  its  surface.  We  can  imagine  a  scum  or  crust  form- 
ing at  the  surface  ;  and  from  what  we  know  of  the  earth's  in- 
terior, nothing  is  more  likely  to  have  constituted  that  slaggy 

1  Carbon  dioxide,  the  great  agent  in  the  decay  of  silicious  rocks,  must 
then  have  constituted  a  very  much  larger  part  of  the  atmosphere  than  at 
present. 


1 8  WORLD-MAKING 


crust  than  the  material  of  our  old  gneisses.  As  to  its  bedded 
character,  this  may  have  arisen  in  part  from  the  addition  of 
cooling  layers  below,  in  part  from  the  action  of  heated  water 
above,  and  in  part  from  pressure  or  tension ;  while,  wherever 
it  cracked  or  became  broken,  its  interstices  would  be  injected 
with  molten  matter  from  beneath.  All  this  may  be  conjecture, 
but  it  is  based  on  known  facts,  and  is  the  only  probable  con- 
jecture. If  correct,  it  would  account  for  the  fact  that  the 
gneissic  rocks  are  the  lowest  and  oldest  that  we  reach  in  every 
part  of  the  earth. 

In  short,  the  fundamental  gneiss  of  the  Lower  Laurentian 
may  have  been  the  first  rock  ever  formed ;  and  in  any  case  it 
is  a  rock  formed  under  conditions  which  have  not  since  re- 
curred, except  locally.  It  constitutes  the  first  and  best  example 
of  those  chemico-physical,  aqueous  or  aqueo-igneous  rocks, 
so  characteristic  of  the  earliest  period  of  the  earth's  history. 
Viewed  in  this  way  the  Lower  Laurentian  gneiss  is  probably 
the  oldest  kind  of  rock  we  shall  ever  know — the  limit  to  our 
backward  progress,  beyond  which  there  remains  nothing  to  the 
geologist  except  physical  hypotheses  respecting  a  cooling  incan- 
descent globe.  For  the  chemical  conditions  of  these  primitive 
rocks,  and  what  is  known  as  to  their  probable  origin,  I  may 
refer  to  the  writings  of  my  friends,  the  late  Dr.  Sterry  Hunt  and 
Dr.  J.  G.  Bonney,  to  whom  we  owe  so  much  of  what  is  known 
of  the  older  crystalline  rocks1  as  well  as  of  their  literature,  and 
the  questions  which  they  raise.  My  purpose  here  is  to  sketch 
the  remarkable  difference  which  we  meet  as  we  ascend  into  the 
Middle  and  Upper  Laurentian. 

In  the  next  succeeding  formation,  the  middle  part  of  the 
Laurentian  of  Logan,  the  Grenville  series  of  Canada,  we  meet 
with  a  great  and  significant  change.  It  is  true  we  have  still  a 
predominance  of  gneisses  which  may  have  been  formed  in  the 

1  Hunt,  "Essays  on  Chemical  Geology";  Bonney,  "Addresses  to 
British  Association  and  Geological  Society  of  London." 


WORLD-MAKING 


same  manner  with  those  below  them  ;  but  we  find  these  now 
associated  with  great  beds  of  limestone  and  dolomite,  which 
must  have  been  formed  by  the  separation  of  calcium  and  mag- 
nesium carbonates  from  the  sea  water,  either  by  chemical  pre- 
cipitation or  by  the  agency  of  living  beings.  We  have.  also 
quartzite,  quartzose  gneisses,  and  even  pebble  beds,  which  in- 
form us  of  sandbanks  and  shores.  Nay,  more,  we  have  beds 
containing  graphite  which  must  be  the  residue  of  plants,  and 
iron  ores  which  tell  of  the  deoxidation  of  iron  oxide  by  organic 
matters.  In  short,  here  we  have  evidence  of  new  factors  in 
world-building,  of  land  and  ocean,  of  atmospheric  decay  of 
rocks,  of  deoxidizing  processes  carried  on  by  vegetable  life  on 
the  land  and  in  the  waters,  of  limestone-building  in  the  sea. 
To  afford  material  for  such  rocks,  the  old  Ottawa  gneiss  must 
have  been  lifted  up  into  continents  and  mountain  masses  by 
bendings  and  foldings  of  the  original  crust.  Under  the  slow 
but  sure  action  of  the  carbon  dioxide  dissolved  in  rainwater, 
its  felspar  had  crumbled  down  in  the  course  of  ages.  Its 
potash,  soda,  lime,  magnesia,  and  part  Of  its  silica  had  been 
washed  into  the  sea,  there  to  enter  into  new  combinations 
and  to  form  new  deposits.  The  crumbling  residue  of  fine  clay 
and  sand  had  been  also  washed  down  into  the  borders  of  the 
ocean,  and  had  been  there  deposited  in  beds.  Thus  the 
earth  had  entered  into  a  new  phase,  which  continues  onward 
through  the  geological  ages  ;  and  I  place  in  the  reader's  hands 
one  key  for  unlocking  the  mystery  of  the  world  in  affirming 
that  this  great  change  took  place,  this  new  era  was  inaugurated 
in  the  midst  of  the  Laurentian  period,  the  oldest  of  our  great 
divisions  of  the  earth's  geological  history.1 

1  I  follow  the  original  arrangement  of  Logan,  who  first  defined  this 
succession  in  the  extensive  and  excellent  exposures  of  these  rocks  in  Canada. 
Elsewhere  the  subject  has  often  been  confused  and  mixed  with  local  de- 
tails. The  same  facts,  though  sometimes  under  different  names,  are  re- 
corded by  the  geologists  of  Scandinavia,  Britain,  and  the  United  States, 
2* 


20  WORLD-MAKING 


Was  not  this  a  fit  period  for  the  first  appearance  of  life? 
should  we  not  expect  it  to  appear,  independently  of  the  evidence 
of  the  fact,  so  soon  at  least  as  the  temperature  of  the  ocean  falls 
sufficiently  low  to  permit  its  existence  ? x  I  do  not  propose  to 
enter  here  into  that  evidence.  This  we  shall  have  occasion 
to  consider  in  the  sequel.  I  would  merely  say  here  that 
we  should  bear  in  mind  that  in  this  latter  half  of  the  Lower 
Laurentian,  or  if  we  so  choose  to  style  it,  Middle  Laurentian 
period,  we  have  the  conditions  required  for  life  in  the  sea 
and  on  the  land ;  and  since  in  other  periods  we  know  that  life 
was  always  present  when  its  conditions  were  present,  it  is  not 
unreasonable  to  look  for  the  earliest  traces  of  life  in  this  forma- 
tion, in  which  we  find,  for  the  first  time,  the  completion  of 
those  physical  arrangements  which  make  life,  in  such  forms  of 
it  as  exist  in  the  sea,  possible. 

This  is  also  a  proper  place  to  say  something  of  the  disputed 
doctrine  of  what  is  termed  metamorphism,  or  the  chemical 
and  molecular  changes  which  old  rocks  have  undergone. 

The  Laurentian  rocks  are  undoubtedly  greatly  changed  from 
their  original  state,  more  especially  in  the  matters  of  crystalli- 
zation and  the  formation  of  disseminated  minerals,  by  the  action 
of  heat  and  heated  water.  Sandstones  have  thus  passed  into 
quartzites,  clays  into  slates*  and  schists,  limestones  into  mar- 
bles. So  far,  metamorphism  is  not  a  doubtful  question  ;  but 
when  theories  of  metamorphism  go  so  far  as  to  suppose  an 
actual  change  of  one  element  for  another,  they  go  beyond  the 
bounds  of  chemical  credibility ;  yet  such  theories  of  meta- 
morphism are  often  boldly  advanced  and  made  the  basis  of 
important  conclusions.  Dr.  Hunt  has  happily  given  the  name 
"  metasomatosis  "  to  this  imaginary  and  improbable  kind  of 

and  the  acceptance  of  the  conclusions  of  Nicol  and  Lapworth  has  served  to 
bring  even  the  rocks  of  the  Highlands  of  Scotland  more  into  line  with 
those  of  Canada. 

1  Dana  states  this  at  180°  F.  for  plants  and  120°  for  animals. 


WORLD-MAKING  21 


metamorphism.  I  would  have  it  to  be  understood  that,  in 
speaking  of  the  metamorphism  of  the  older  crystalline  rocks,  it 
is  not  to  this  metasomatosis  that  I  refer,  and  that  I  hold  that 
rocks  which  have  been  produced  out  of  the  materials  decom- 
posed by  atmospheric  erosion  can  never  by  any  process  of 
metamorphism  be  restored  to  the  precise  condition  of  the 
Laurentian  rocks.  Thus,  there  is  in  the  older  formations  a 
genealogy  of  rocks,  which,  in  the  absence  of  fossils,  may  be 
used  with  some  confidence,  but  which  does  not  apply  to  the 
more  modern  deposits,  and  which  gives  a  validity  to  the  use  of 
mineral  character  in  classifying  older  rocks  which  does  not 
hold  for  later  formations.  Still,  nothing  in  geology  abso- 
lutely perishes,  or  is  altogether  discontinued ;  and  it  is  prob- 
able that,  down  to  the  present  day,  the  causes  which  produced 
the  old  Laurentian  gneiss  may  still  operate  in  limited  locali- 
ties. Then,  however,  they  were  general,  not  exceptional.  It  is 
further  to  be  observed  that  the  term  gneiss  is  sometimes  of  wide 
and  even  loose  application.  Beside  the  typical  orthoclase  and 
hornblendic  gneiss  of  the  Laurentian,  there  are  micaceous, 
quartzose,  garnetiferous  and  many  other  kinds  of  gneiss ;  and 
even  gneissose  rocks,  which  hold  labradorite  or  anorthite  in- 
stead of  orthoclase,  are  sometimes,  though  not  accurately,  in- 
cluded in  the  term. 

The  Grenville  series,  or  Middle  Laurentian,  is  succeeded  by 
what  Logan  in  Canada  called  the  Upper  Laurentian,  and  which 
other  geologists  have  called  the  Norite  or  Norian  series.  Here 
we  still  have  our  old  friends  the  gneisses,  but  somewhat  peculiar 
in  type,  and  associated  with  them  are  great  beds  and  masses,  rich 
in  lime-felspar,  the  so-called  labradorite  and  anorthite  rocks. 
The  precise 'origin  of  these  is  uncertain,  but  this  much  seems 
clear,  namely,  that  they  originated  in  circumstances  in  which 
the  great  limestones  deposited  in  the  Lower  or  Middle  Lauren- 
tian were  beginning  to  be  employed  in  the  manufacture,  prob- 
ably by  aqueo-igneous  agencies,  of  lime-felspars.  This  proves 


22  WORLD-MAKING 


the  Norian  rocks  to  be  younger  than  the  Lower  Laurentian,  and 
that,  as  Logan  supposed,  considerable  earth  movements  had 
occurred  between  the  two,  implying  lapse  of  time,  while  it  is 
also  evident  that  the  folding  and  crumpling  of  the  Lower  Lau- 
rentian had  led  to  great  outbursts  of  igneous  matter  from  below 
the  crust,  or  from  its  under  part. 

Next  to  the  Laurentian,  but  probably  after  an  interval,  the 
rocks  of  which  are  yet  scarcely  known,  we  have  the  Huronian 
of  Logan,  a  series  much  less  crystalline  and  more  fragmentary, 
and  affording  more  evidence  of  land  elevation  and  atmo- 
spheric and  aqueous  erosion  than  those  preceding  it.  It  has 
extensive  beds  of  volcanic  rock,  great  conglomerates,  some  of 
them  made  up  of  rounded  fragments  of  Laurentian  rocks,  and 
others  of  quartz  pebbles,  which  must  have  been  the  remains  of 
rocks  subjected  to  very  perfect  decay.  The  pure  quartz-rocks 
tell  the  same  tale,  while  slates  and  limestones  speak  also  of 
chemical  separation  of  the  materials  of  older  rocks.  The  Hu- 
ronian evidently  tells  of  previous  movements  in  the  Lauren- 
tian, and  changes  which  allowed  the  Huronian  to  be  deposited 
along  its  shores  and  on  the  edges  of  its  beds.  Yet  the  Huronian 
itself  is  older  than  the  Palaeozoic  series,  and  affected  by  power- 
ful earth  movements  at  an  earlier  date.  Life  existed  in  the 
waters  in  Huronian  times.  We  have  spicules  of  sponges  in 
the  limestone,  and  organic  markings  on  the  slaty  beds;  but 
they  are  few,  and  their  nature  is  uncertain. 

Succeeding  the  Huronian,  and  made  up  of  its  debris  and 
that  of  the  Laurentian,  we  have  the  great  Cambrian  series, 
that  in  which  we  first  find  undoubted  evidence  of  abundant 
marine  life,  and  which  thus  forms  the  first  chapter  in  the  great 
Palaeozoic  book  of  the  early  history  of  the  world.  Here  let  it 
be  observed  we  have  at  least  two  wide  gaps  in  our  history, 
marked  by  the  crumpling  up,  first,  of  the  Laurentian,  and  then 
of  the  Huronian  beds. 

After  what  has  been  said,  the  reader  will  perhaps  not  be 


WORLD-MAKING  23 


astonished  that  fierce  geological  battles  have  raged  over  the 
old  crystalline  rocks.  By  some  geologists  they  are  almost 
entirely  explained  away,  or  referred  to  igneous  action,  or  to  the 
alteration  of  ordinary  sediments.  Under  the  treatment  of 
another  school  they  grow  to  great  series  of  Pre-Cambrian 
rocks,  constituting  vast  systems  of  formations,  distinguishable 
from  each  other  chiefly  by  differences  of  mineral  character. 
Facts  and  fossils  are  daily  being  discovered,  by  which  these 
disputes  will  ultimately  be  settled. 

After  the  solitary  appearance  of  Eozoon  in  the  Laurentian, 
and  of  a  few  uncertain  forms  in  the  Huronian,  we  find  our- 
selves, in  the  Cambrian,  in  the  presence  of  a  nearly  complete 
invertebrate  fauna  of  protozoa,  polyps,  echinoderms,  mollusks 
and  Crustacea,  and  this  not  confined  to  one  locality  merely, 
but  apparently  extended  simultaneously  throughout  the  ocean, 
over  the  whole  world.  This  sudden  incoming  of  animal  life, 
along  with  the  subsequent  introduction  of  successive  groups  of 
invertebrates,  and  finally  of  vertebrate  animals,  furnishes  one  of 
the  greatest  unsolved  problems  of  geology,  which  geologists 
were  wont  to  settle  by  the  supposition  of  successive  creations. 
In  the  sequel  I  shall  endeavour  to  set  forth  the  facts  as  to  this 
succession,  and  the  general  principles  involved  in  it,  and  to 
show  the  insufficiency  of  certain  theories  of  evolution  suggested 
by  biologists  to  give  any  substantial  aid  to  the  geologist  in 
these  questions.  At  present  I  propose  merely  to  notice  some 
of  the  general  principles  which  should  guide  us  in  studying  the 
development  of  life  in  geological  time,  and  the  causes  which 
have  baffled  so  many  attempts  to  throw  light  on  this  obscure 
portion  of  our  unsolved  problems. 

It  has  been  urged  on  the  side  ot  rational  evolution — and 
there  are  both  rational  and  irrational  forms  of  this  many-sided 
doctrine — that  this  hypothesis  does  not  profess  to  give  an 
explanation  of  the  absolute  origin  of  life  on  our  planet,  or  even 
of  the  original  organization  of  a  single  cell,  or  of  a  simple  mass 


24  WORLD-MAKING 


of  protoplasm,  living  or  dead.  All  experimental  attempts  to 
produce  by  synthesis  the  complex  albuminous  substances,  or  to 
obtain  the  living  from  the  non-living,  have  so  far  been  fruitless, 
and  indeed  we  cannot  imagine  any  process  by  which  such 
changes  could  be  effected.  That  they  have  been  effected  we 
know,  but  the  process  employed  by  their  maker  is  still  as 
mysterious  to  us  as  it  probably  was  to  him  who  wrote  the 
words  : — "  And  God  said,  Let  the  waters  swarm  with  s warmers." 
How  vast  is  the  gap  in  our  knowledge  and  our  practical  power 
implied  in  this  admission,  which  must,  however,  be  made  by 
every  mind  not  absolutely  blinded  by  a  superstitious  belief  in 
those  forms  of  words  which  too  often  pass  current  as 
philosophy. 

But  if  we  are  content  to  start  with  a  number  of  organisms 
ready  made — a  somewhat  humiliating  start,  however — we  still 
have  to  ask — How  do  these  vary  so  as  to  give  new  species  ? 
It  is  a  singular  illusion,  and  especially  in  the  case  of  men  who 
profess  to  be  believers  in  natural  law,  that  variation  may  be 
boundless,  aimless  and  fortuitous,  and  that  it  is  by  spontaneous 
selection  from  varieties  thus  produced  that  development  arises. 
But  surely  the  supposition  of  mere  chance  and  magic  is  un- 
worthy of  science.  Varieties  must  have  causes,  and  their 
causes  and  their  effects  must  be  regulated  by  some  law  or  laws. 
Now  it  is  easy  to  see  that  they  cannot  be  caused  by  a  mere 
innate  tendency  in  the  organism  itself.  Every  organism  is  so 
nicely  equilibrated  that  it  has  no  such  spontaneous  tendency, 
except  within  the  limits  set  by  its  growth  and  the  law  of  its 
periodical  changes.  There  may,  however,  be  equilibrium 
more  or  less  stable.  I  believe  all  attempts  hitherto  made  have 
failed  to  account  for  the  fixity  of  certain,  nay,  of  very  many, 
types  throughout  geological  time,  but  the  mere  consideration 
that  one  may  be  in  a  more  stable  state  of  equilibrium  than 
another,  so  far  explains  it.  A  rocking  stone  has  no  more 
spontaneous  tendency  to  move  than  an  ordinary  boulder,  but 


WORLD-MAKING  25 


it  may  be  made  to  move  with  a  touch.  So  it  probably  is  with 
organisms.  But  if  so,  then  the  causes  of  variation  are  external, 
as  in  many  cases  we  actually  know  them  to  be,  and  they  must 
depend  on  instability  with  change  in  surroundings,  and  this  so 
arranged  as  not  to  be  too  extreme  in  amount,  and  to  operate 
in  some  determinate  direction.  Observe  how  remarkable  the 
unity  of  the  adjustments  involved  in  such  a  supposition  ! — 
how  superior  they  must  be  to  our  rude  and  always  more  or  less 
unsuccessful  attempts  to  produce  and  carry  forward  varieties 
and  races  in  definite  directions  !  This  cannot  be  chance.  If 
it  exists,  it  must  depend  on  plans  deeply  laid  in  the  nature  of 
things,  else  it  would  be  most  monstrous  magic  and  causeless 
miracle.  Still  more  certain  is  this  conclusion  when  we  con- 
sider the  vast  and  orderly  succession  made  known  to  us  by 
geology,  and  which  must  have  been  regulated  by  fixed  laws, 
only  a  few  of  which  are  as  yet  known  to  us. 

Beyond  these  general  considerations  we  have  others  of  a 
more  special  character,  based  on  palaeontological  facts,  which 
show  how  imperfect  are  our  attempts  as  yet  to  reach  the  true 
causes  of  the  introduction  of  genera  and  species. 

One  is  the  remarkable  fixity  of  the  leading  types  of  living 
beings  in  geological  time.  If,  instead  of  framing,  like  Haeckel, 
fanciful  phylogenies,  we  take  the  trouble,  with  Barrande  and 
Gaudry,  to  trace  the  forms  of  life  through  the  period  of  their 
existence,  each  along  its  own  line,  we  shall  be  greatly  struck 
with  this,  and  especially  with  the  continuous  existence  of  many 
low  types  of  life  through  vicissitudes  of  physical  conditions  of 
the  most  stupendous  character,  and  over  a  lapse  of  time 
scarcely  conceivable.  What  is  still  more  remarkable  is  that 
this  holds  in  groups  which,  within  certain  limits,  are  perhaps 
the  most  variable  of  all.  In  the  present  world  no  creatures 
are  individually  more  variable  than  the  protozoa;  as,  for 
example,  the  foraminifera  and  the  sponges.  Yet  these  groups 
are  fundamentally  the  same,  from  the  beginning  of  the  Palaeo- 


26  WORLD-MAKING 


zoic  until  now,  and  modern  species  seem  scarcely  at  all  to 
differ  from  specimens  procured  from  rocks  at  least  half-way 
back  to  the  beginning  of  our  geological  record.  If  we  suppose 
that  the  present  sponges  and  foraminifera  are  the  descendants 
of  those  of  the  Silurian  period,  we  can  affirm  that  in  all  that 
vast  lapse  of  time  they  have,  on  the  whole,  made  little  greater 
change  than  that  which  may  be  observed  in  variable  forms  at 
present.  The  same  remark  applies  to  other  low  animal  forms. 
In  types  somewhat  higher  and  less  variable,  this  is  almost 
equally  noteworthy.  The  pattern  of  the  venation  of  the  wings 
of  cockroaches,  and  the  structure  and  form  of  land  snails, 
gally-worms  and  decapod  crustaceans  were  all  settled  in  the 
Carboniferous  age,  in  a  way  that  still  remains.  So  were  the 
foliage  and  the  fructification  of  club-mosses  and  ferns.  If,  at 
any  time,  members  of  these  groups  branched  off,  so  as  to  lay 
the  foundation  of  new  species,  this  must  have  been  a  very  rare 
and  exceptional  occurrence,  and  one  demanding  even  some 
suspension  of  the  ordinary  laws  of  nature. 

We  may  perhaps  be  content  on  this  question  to  say  with 
Gaudry,1  that  it  is  not  yet  possible  to  "  pierce  the  mystery  that 
surrounds  the  development  of  the  great  classes  of  animals,"  or 
with  Prof.  Williamson,2  that  in  reference  to  fossil  plants  "  the 
time  has  not  yet  arrived  for  the  appointment  of  a  botanical 
King-at-arms  and  Constructor  of  pedigrees."  We  shall,  how- 
ever, find  that  by  abandoning  mere  hypothetical  causes  and 
carefully  noting  the  order  of  the  development  and  the  causes 
in  operation,  so  far  as  known,  we  may  reach  to  ideas  as  to  cause 
and  mode,  and  the  laws  of  succession,  even  if  unable  to  pene- 
trate the  mystery  of  origins. 

Another  caution  which  a  palaeontologist  has  occasion  to  give 
with  regard  to  theories  of  life,  has  reference  to  the  tendency  of 
biologists  to  infer  that  animals  and  plants  were  introduced 

1  "  Enchainements  du  Monde  Animal,"  Paris,  1883. 
*  Address  before  Royal  Institution,  Feb.,  1883. 


WORLD-MAKING 


under  embryonic  forms,  and  at  first  in  few  and  imperfect 
species.  Facts  do  not  substantiate  this.  The  first  appearance 
of  leading  types  of  life  is  rarely  embryonic,  or  of  the  nature  of 
immature  individuals.  On  the  contrary,  they  often  appear  in 
highly  perfect  and  specialized  forms,  often,  however,  of  compo- 
site type  and  expressing  characters  afterwards  so  separated  as 
to  belong  to  higher  groups.  The  trilobites  of  the  Cambrian  are 
some  of  them  of  few  segments,  and  so  far  embryonic,  but  the 
greater  part  are  many-segmented  and  very  complex.  The 
batrachians  of  the  Carboniferous  present  many  characters  higher 
than  those  of  their  modern  successors  and  now  appropriated 
to  the  true  reptiles.  The  reptiles  of  the  Permian  and  Trias 
usurped  some  of  the  prerogatives  of  the  mammals.  The  ferns, 
lycopods  and  equisetums  of  the  Devonian  and  Carboniferous 
were,  in  fructification,  not  inferior  to  their  modern  representa- 
tives, and  in  the  structure  of  their  stems  far  superior.  The 
shell- bearing  cephalopods  of  the  Palaeozoic  would  seem  to 
have  possessed  structures  now  special  to  a  higher  group,  that 
of  the  cuttle-fishes.  The  bald  and  contemptuous  negation  of 
these  facts  by  Haeckel  and  other  biologists  does  not  tend  to 
give  geologists  much  confidence  in  their  dicta. 

Again,  we  are  now  prepared  to  say  that  the  struggle  for 
existence,  however  plausible  as  a  theory,  when  put  before  us  in 
connection  with  the  productiveness  of  animals  and  the  few 
survivors  of  their  multitudinous  progeny,  has  not  been  the 
determining  cause  of  the  introduction  of  new  species.  The 
periods  of  rapid  introduction  of  new  forms  of  marine  life  were 
not  periods  of  struggle,  but  of  expansion — those  periods  in 
which  the  submergence  of  continents  afforded  new  and  large 
space  for  their  extension  and  comfortable  subsistence.  In  like 
manner,  it  was  continental  emergence  that  afforded  the  oppor- 
tunity for  the  introduction  of  land  animals  and  plants.  Fur- 
ther, in  connection  with  this,  it  is  now  an  established  conclusion 
that  the  great  aggressive  faunas  and  floras  of  the  continents 


28  WORLD-MAKING 


have  originated  in  the  north,  some  of  them  within  the  arctic 
circle,  and  this  in  periods  of  exceptional  warmth,  when  the 
perpetual  summer  sunshine  of  the  arctic  regions  coexisted  with 
a  warm  temperature.  The  testimony  of  the  rocks  thus  is  that 
not  struggle  but  expansion  furnished  the  requisite  conditions 
for  new  forms  of  life,  and  that  the  periods  of  struggle  were 
characterized  by  depauperation  and  extinction. 

But  we  are  sometimes  told  that  organisms  are  merely 
mechanical,  and  that  the  discussions  respecting  their  origin 
have  no  significance  any  more  than  if  they  related  to  rocks  or 
crystals,  because  they  relate  merely  to  the  organism  considered 
as  a  machine,  and  not  to  that  which  may  be  supposed  to  be 
more  important,  namely,  the  great  determining  power  of  mind 
and  will.  That  this  is  a  mere  evasion  by  which  we  really  gain 
nothing,  will  appear  from  a  characteristic  extract  of  an  article 
by  an  eminent  biologist  in  the  new  edition  of  the  Encyclopedia 
Britannica,  a  publication  which,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  instead  of 
its  proper  role  as  a  repertory  of  facts,  has  admitted  partisan 
papers,  stating  extreme  and  unproved  speculations  as  if  they 
were  conclusions  of  science.  The  statement  referred  to  is  as 
follows  : — "  A  mass  of  living  protoplasm  is  simply  a  molecular 
machine  of  great  complexity,  the  total  results  of  the  working  of 
which,  or  its  vital  phenomena,  depend  on  the  one  hand  on  its 
construction,  and  on  the  other,  on  the  energy  supplied  to  it ; 
and  to  speak  of  vitality  as  anything  but  the  name  for  a  series 
of  operations  is  as  if  one  should  talk  of  the  horologity  of  a 
clock."  It  would,  I  think,  scarcely  be  possible  to  put  into 
the  same  number  of  words  a  greater  amount  of  unscientific 
assumption  and  unproved  statement  than  in  this  sentence.  Is 
"  living  protoplasm  "  different  in  any  way  from  dead  protoplasm, 
and  if  so,  what  causes  the  difference  ?  What  is  a  "  machine  "  ? 
Can  we  conceive  of  a  self-produced  or  uncaused  machine,  or 
one  not  intended  to  work  out  some  definite  results  ?  The  results 
of  the  machine  in  question  are  said  to  be  "  vital  phenomena  "  ; 


WORLD-MAKING  29 


certainly  most  wonderful  results,  and  greater  than  those  of  any 
machine  man  has  yet  been  able  to  construct.  But  why  "  vital "  ? 
If  there  is  no  such  thing  as  life,  surely  they  are  merely  physical 
results.  Can  mechanical  causes  produce  other  than  physical 
effects  ?  To  Aristotle  life  was  "  the  cause  of  form  in  organ- 
isms." Is  not  this  quite  as  likely  to  be  true  as  the  converse  pro- 
position ?  If  the  vital  phenomena  depend  on  the  "  construction  " 
of  the  machine,  and  the  "  energy  supplied  to  it,"  whence  this 
construction  and  whence  this  energy  ?  The  illustration  of  the 
clock  does  not  help  us  to  answer  this  question.  The  construc- 
tion of  the  clock  depends  on  its  maker,  and  its  energy  is  de- 
rived from  the  hand  that  winds  it  up.  If  we  can  think  of  a 
clock  which  no  one  has  made,  and  which  no  one  winds,  a  clock 
constructed  by  chance,  set  in  harmony  with  the  universe  by 
chance,  wound  up  periodically  by  chance,  we  shall  then  have 
an  idea  parallel  to  that  of  an  organism  living,  yet  without  any 
vital  energy  or  creative  law ;  but  in  such  a  case  we  should 
certainly  have  to  assume  some  antecedent  cause,  whether  we 
call  it  "  horologity  "  or  by  some  other  name.  Perhaps  the  term 
evolution  would  serve  as  well  as  any  other,  were  it  not  that 
common  sense  teaches  that  nothing  can  be  spontaneously 
evolved  out  of  that  in  which  it  did  not  previously  exist. 

There  is  one  other  unsolved  problem  in  the  study  of  life  by 
the  geologist  to  which  it  is  still  necessary  to  advert.  This  is 
the  inability  of  palaeontology  to  fill  up  the  gaps  in  the  chain  of 
being.  In  this  respect  we  are  constantly  taunted  with  the  im- 
perfection of  the  record,  a  matter  so  important  that  it  merits  a 
separate  treatment;  but  facts  show  that  this  is  much  more 
complete  than  is  generally  supposed.  Over  long  periods  of 
time  and  many  lines  of  being  we  have  a  nearly  continuous 
chain,  and  if  this  does  not  show  the  tendency  desired,  the 
fault  is  as  likely  to  be  in  the  theory  as  in  the  record.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  abrupt  and  simultaneous  appearance  of  new 
types  in  many  specific  and  generic  forms  and  over  wide  and 


3O  WORLD-MAKING 


separate  areas  at  tme  and  the  same  time,  is  too  often  repeated 
to  be  accidental.  Hence  palaeontologists,  in  endeavouring  to 
establish  evolution,  have  been  obliged  to  assume  periods  of 
exceptional  activity  in  the  introduction  of  species,  alternating 
with  others  of  stagnation,  a  doctrine  differing  very  little  from 
that  of  special  creation,  as  held  by  the  older  geologists. 

The  attempt  has  lately  been  made  to  account  for  these  breaks 
by  the  assumption  that  the  geological  record  relates  only  to 
periods  of  submergence,  and  gives  no  information  as  to  those  of 
elevation.  This  is  manifestly  untrue.  In  so  far  as  marine  life 
is  concerned,  the  periods  of  submergence  are  those  in  which 
new  forms  abound  for  very  obvious  reasons,  already  hinted ;  but 
the  periods  of  new  forms  of  land  and  fresh-water  life  are  those 
of  elevation,  and  these  have  their  own  records  and  monuments, 
often  very  rich  and  ample,  as,  for  example,  the  swamps  of  the 
Carboniferous,  the  transition  from  the  great  Cretaceous  sub- 
sidence, when  so  much  of  the  land  of  the  Northern  Hemisphere 
was  submerged,  to  the  new  continents  of  the  Tertiary,  the 
Tertiary  lake-basins  of  Western  America,  the  Terraces  and 
raised  beaches  of  the  Pleistocene.  Had  I  time  to  refer  in 
detail  to  the  breaks  in  the  continuity  of  life  which  cannot  be 
explained  by  the  imperfection  of  the  record,  I  could  show  at 
least  that  nature  in  this  case  does  advance  per  saltum — by 
leaps,  rather  than  by  a  slow  continuous  process.  Many  able 
reasoners,  as  Le  Conte,  in  America,  and  Mivart  and  Collard  in 
England,  hold  this  view. 

Here,  as  elsewhere,  a  vast  amount  of  steady  conscientious 
work  is  required  to  enable  us  to  solve  the  problems  of  the 
history  of  life.  But  if  so,  the  more  the  hope  for  the  patient 
student  and  investigator.  I  know  nothing  more  chilling  to  re- 
search, or  unfavourable  to  progress,  than  the  promulgation  of 
a  dogmatic  decision  that  there  is  nothing  to  be  learned  but  a 
merely  fortuitous  and  uncaused  succession,  amenable  to  no 
law.  and  only  to  be  covered,  in  order  to  hide  its  shapeless  and 


WORLD-MAKING  3! 


uncertain  proportions,  by  the  mantle  of  bold  and  gratuitous 
hypothesis. 

So  soon  as  we  find  evidence  of  continents  and  oceans  we 
raise  the  question,  Have  these  continents  existed  from  the  first 
in  their  present  position  and  form,  or  have  the  land  and  water 
changed  places  in  the  course  of  geological  time  ?  This  ques- 
tion also  deserves  a  separate  and  more  detailed  consideration. 
In  reality  both  statements  are  true  in  a  certain  limited  sense. 
On  the  one  hand,  any  geological  map  whatever  suffices  to  show 
that  the  general  outline  of  the  existing  land  began  to  be  formed 
in  the  first  and  oldest  crumplings  of  the  crust.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  greater  part  of  the  surface  of  the  land  consists  of 
marine  sediments  which  must  have  been  deposited  when  the 
continents  were  in  great  part  submerged,  and  whose  materials 
must  have  been  derived  from  land  that  has  perished  in  the 
process,  while  all  the  continental  surfaces,  except,  perhaps,  some 
high  peaks  and  ridges,  have  been  many  times  submerged. 
Both  of  these  apparently  contradictory  statements  are  true ;  and 
without  assuming  both,  it  is  impossible  to  explain  the  existing 
contours  and  reliefs  of  the  surface. 

In  exceptional  cases  even  portions  of  deep  sea  have  been 
elevated,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Polycistine  deposits  in  the  West 
Indies ;  but  these  exceptions  are  as  yet  scarcely  sufficient  to 
prove  the  rule. 

In  the  case  of  North  America,  the  form  of  the  old  nucleus  of 
Laurentian  rock  in  the  north  already  marks  out  that  of  the 
finished  continent,  and  the  successive  later  formations  have 
been  laid  upon  the  edges  of  this,  like  the  successive  loads  of 
earth  dumped  over  an  embankment.  But  in  order  to  give  the 
great  thickness  of  the  Palaeozoic  sediments,  the  land  must  have 
been  again  and  again  submerged,  and  for  long  periods  of  time. 
Thus,  in  one  sense,  the  continents  have  been  fixed ;  in  another, 
they  have  been  constantly  fluctuating.  Hall  and  Dana  have 
well  illustrated  these  points  in  so  far  as  eastern  North  America 


32  WORLD-MAKING 


is  concerned.  Prof.  Hull  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Ireland 
has  had  the  boldness  to  reduce  the  fluctuations  of  land  and 
water,  as  evidenced  in  the  British  Islands,  to  the  form  of  a 
series  of  maps  intended  to  show  the  physical  geography  of  each 
successive  period.  The  attempt  is  probably  premature,  and 
has  been  met  with  much  adverse  criticism  ;  but  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  it  has  an  element  of  truth.  When  we  attempt  to 
calculate  what  could  have  been  supplied  from  the  old  Eozoic 
nucleus  by  decay  and  aqueous  erosion,  and  when  we  take  into 
account  the  greater  local  thickness  of  sediments  towards  the 
present  sea-basins,  we  can  scarcely  avoid  the  conclusion  that 
extensive  areas  once  occupied  by  high  land  are  now  under  the 
sea.  But  to  ascertain  the  precise  areas  and  position  of  these 
perished  lands  may  now  be  impossible. 

In  point  of  fact  we  are  obliged  to  believe  in  the  contempo- 
raneous existence  in  all  geological  periods,  except  perhaps  the 
very  oldest,  of  three  sorts  of  areas  on  the  surface  of  the  earth  : 
(i)  Oceanic  areas  of  deep  sea,  which  must  always  have  oc- 
cupied the  bed  of  the  present  ocean,  or  parts  of  it ;  (2)  Conti- 
nental plateaus  sometimes  existing  as  low  flats,  or  as  higher 
table-lands,  and  sometimes  submerged  ;  (3)  Areas  of  plication 
or  folding,  more  especially  along  the  borders  of  the  oceans, 
forming  elevated  lands  rarely  submerged  and  constantly  afford- 
ing the  material  of  sedimentary  accumulations.  We  shall  find, 
however,  that  these  have  changed  places  in  a  remarkable  man- 
ner, though  always  in  such  a  way  that  neither  the  life  of  the 
land  nor  of  the  waters  was  wholly  extinguished  in  the  process. 

Every  geologist  knows  the  contention  which  has  been 
occasioned  by  the  attempts  to  correlate  the  earlier  Palaeozoic 
deposits  of  the  Atlantic  margin  of  North  America  with  those 
forming  at  the  same  time  on  the  interior  plateau,  and  with 
those  of  intervening  lines  of  plication  and  igneous  disturbance. 
Stratigraphy,  lithology  and  fossils  are  all  more  or  less  at  fault 
in  dealing  with  these  questions,  and  while  the  general  nature 


WORLD-MAKING  33 


of  the  problem  is  understood  by  many  geologists,  its  solution 
in  particular  cases  is  still  a  source  of  apparently  endless 
debate. 

The  causes  and  mode  of  operation  of  the  great  movements 
of  the  earth's  crust  which  have  produced  mountains,  plains 
and  table-lands,  are  still  involved  in  some  mystery.  One 
patent  cause  is  the  unequal  settling  of  the  crust  towards  the 
centre ;  but  it  is  not  so  generally  understood  as  it  should  be, 
that  the  greater  settlement  of  the  ocean-bed  has  necessitated 
its  pressure  against  the  sides  of  the  continents  in  the  same 
manner  that  a  huge  ice-floe  crushes  a  ship  or  a  pier.  The 
geological  map  of  North  America  shows  this  at  a  glance,  and 
impresses  us  with  the  fact  that  large  portions  of  the  earth's 
crust  have  not  only  been  folded  but  bodily  pushed  back  for 
great  distances.  On  looking  at  the  extreme  north,  we  see  that 
the  great  Laurentian  mass  of  central  Newfoundland  has  acted 
as  a  projecting  pier  to  the  space  immediately  west  of  it,  and 
has  caused  the  gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  to  remain  an  undisturbed 
area  since  Palaeozoic  times.  Immediately  to  the  south  of  this, 
Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick  are  folded  back.  Still  farther 
south,  as  Guyot  has  shown,  the  old  sediments  have  been 
crushed  in  sharp  folds  against  the  Adirondack  mass,  which  has 
sheltered  the  table-land  of  the  Catskills  and  of  the  great  lakes. 
South  of  this  again  the  rocks  of  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland 
have  been  driven  back  in  a  great  curve  to  the  west.  Move- 
ments of  this  kind  on  the  Pacific  coast  of  America  have  been 
still  more  stupendous,  as  well  as  more  recent.  Dr.  G.  M. 
Dawson l  thus  refers  to  the  crushing  action  of  the  Pacific  bed 
on  the  rocks  of  British  Columbia,  and  this  especially  at  two 
periods,  the  close  of  the  Triassic  and  the  close  of  the  Cretace- 
ous :  "The  successive  foldings  and  crushings  which  the  Cor- 
dillera region  has  suffered  have  resulted  in  an  actual  change 
of  position  of  the  rocks  now  composing  its  western  margin. 
1  Trans.  Royal  Society  of  Canada,  1890. 


34  WORLD-MAKING 


This  change  may  have  amounted  since  the  beginning  of 
Mesozoic  time  to  one-third  of  its  whole  present  width,  which 
would  place  the  line  of  the  coast  ranges  about  two  degrees  of 
longitude  farther  west."  Here  we  have  evidence  that  a  tract 
of  country  400  miles  wide  and  consisting  largely  of  mountain 
ranges  and  table-lands,  has  been  crushed  bodily  back  over  two 
degrees  of  longitude ;  and  this  applies  not  to  British  Columbia 
merely,  but  to  the  whole  west  coast  from  Alaska  to  Chili. 
Yet  we  know  that  any  contraction  of  the  earth's  nucleus  can 
crumple  up  only  a  very  thin  superficial  crust,  which  in  this 
case  must  have  slid  over  the  pasty  mass  below.1  Let  it 
be  observed,  however,  that  the  whole  lateral  pressure  of  vast 
areas  has  been  condensed  into  very  narrow  lines.  Nothing,  I 
think,  can  more  forcibly  show  the  enormous  pressure  to  which 
the  edges  of  the  continents  have  been  exposed,  and  at  the 
same  time  the  great  sinking  of  the  hard  and  resisting  ocean- 
beds.  Complex  and  difficult  to  calculate  though  these  move- 
ments of  plication  are,  they  are  more  intelligible  than  the 
apparently  regular  pulsations  of  the  flat  continental  areas, 
whereby  they  have  alternately  been  below  and  above  the 
waters,  and  which  must  have  depended  on  somewhat  regularly 
recurring  causes,  connected  either  with  the  secular  cooling  of 
the  earth  or  with  the  gradual  retardation  of  its  rotation,  or  with 
both.  There  is,  however,  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  suc- 
cessive subsidences  alternated  with  the  movements  of  plication, 
and  depended  on  upward  bendings  of  the  ocean  floor,  and 
also  on  the  gradual  slackening  of  the  rotation  of  the  earth. 
Throughout  these  changes,  each  successive  elevation  exposed 
the  rocks  for  long  ages  to  the  decomposing  influence  of  the 
atmosphere.  Each  submergence  swept  away  and  deposited  as 

1  This  view  is  quite  consistent  with  the  practical  solidity  of  the  earth, 
and  with  the  action  of  local  expansion  by  heat,  of  settlement  of  areas 
overloaded  with  sediment,  and  of  downward  sliding  of  beds.  This  we 
shall  see  in  the  sequel. 


WORLD-MAKING  35 


sediment  the  material  accumulated  by  decay.  Every  change 
of  elevation  was  accompanied  with  changes  of  climate,  and 
with  modifications  of  the  habitats  of  animals  and  plants. 
Were  it  possible  to  restore  accurately  the  physical  geography 
of  the  earth  in  all  these  respects,  for  each  geological  period, 
the  data  for  the  solution  of  many  difficult  questions  would  be 
furnished. 

We  have  wandered  through  space  and  time  sufficiently  for 
one  chapter,  and  some  of  the  same  topics  must  come  up  later 
in  other  connections.  Let  us  sum  up  in  a  word.  In  human 
history  we  are  dealing  with  the  short  lives  and  limited  plans  of 
man.  In  the  making  of  worlds  we  are  conversant  with  the 
plans  of  a  Creator  with  whom  one  day  is  as  a  thousand  years, 
and  a  thousand  years  as  one  day.  We  must  not  measure  such 
things  by  our  microscopic  scale  of  time.  Nor  should  we  fail 
to  see  that  vast  though  the  ages  of  the  earth  are,  they  are  parts 
of  a  continuous  plan,  and  of  a  plan  probably  reaching  in  space 
and  time  immeasurably  beyond  our  earth.  When  we  trace  the 
long  history  from  an  incandescent  fire-mist  to  a  finished  earth, 
and  vast  ages  occupied  by  the  dynasties  of  plant  and  animal 
life,  we  see  not  merely  a  mighty  maze,  an  almost  endless  pro- 
cession of  changes,  but  that  all  of  these  were  related  to  one 
another  by  a  chain  of  causes  and  effects  leading  onward  to 
greater  variety  and  complexity,  while  retaining  throughout  the 
traces  of  the  means  employed.  The  old  rocks  and  the  ancient 
lines  of  folding  and  the  perished  forms  of  life  are  not  merely  a 
scaffolding  set  up  to  be  thrown  down,  but  the  foundation 
stones  of  a  great  and  symmetrical  structure.  Is  it  yet  com- 
pleted ?  Who  can  tell  ?  The  earth  may  still  be  young,  and 
infinite  ages  of  a  better  history  may  lie  before  it. 
REFERENCES  l  :  Presidential  Address  to  the  American  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science,  meeting  at  Minneapolis,  1883.  "  The 
Story  of  the  Earth  and  Man."  Ninth  edition,  London,  1887. 
1  The  references  in  this  and  succeeding  chapters  are  exclusively  to  papers 
and  works  by  the  author,  on  which  the  several  chapters  are  based. 
3 


THE  IMPERFECTION  OF  THE  GEOLOGICAL 
RECORD. 

DEDICATED    TO    THE    MEMORY    OF 
JOACHIN    BARRANDE, 

ONE  OF   THE  MOST  SUCCESSFUL  LABOURERS 
IN  THE 

COMPLETION  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  LIFE 
IN  ITS  EARLIER  STAGES. 


NATURE  OF  THE  IMPERFECTION  —  QUESTIONS  AS  TO  ITS 
ARISING  FROM  WANT  OF  CONTINUITY,  FROM  LACK  OF 
PRESERVATION,  FROM  IMPERFECT  COLLECTING.  EX- 
AMPLES— LAND  SNAILS,  CARBONIFEROUS  BATRACHIANS, 
PALEOZOIC  SPONGES,  PLEISTOCENE  SHELLS,  DEVONIAN 
AND  CARBONIFEROUS  PLANTS  —  COMPARATIVE  PERFEC- 
TION IN  THE  CASE  OF  MARINE  SHELLS,  ETC. — POSSIBLE 
CAMBRIAN  SQUIDS — QUESTIONS  AS  TO  WANT  OF  FIRST 
CHAPTERS  OF  THE  RECORD — PRACTICAL  CONCLUSIONS 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  IMPERFECTION  OF  THE  GEOLOGICAL 
RECORD. 

/^  OMPLAINTS  of  the  imperfection  of  the  geological 
v_/  record  are  rife  among  those  biologists  who  expect  to 
find  continuous  series  of  fossils  representing  the  gradual  trans- 
mutation of  species.  No  doubt  these  gaps  are  in  some  cases 
portentous,  and  unfortunately  they  often  occur  just  where  it  is 
most  essential  to  certain  general  conclusions  that  they  should 
be  filled  up.  Instead,  however,  of  making  vague  lamentations 
on  the  subject,  it  is  well  to  inquire  to  what  causes  these  gaps 
may  be  due,  to  what  extent  they  invalidate  the  completeness 
of  geological  history  for  scientific  purposes,  and  how  they  may 
best  be  filled. 

Here  we  may  first  remark  that  it  is  not  so  much  the  physical 
record  of  geology  that  is  imperfect  as  the  organic  record.  Ever 
since  the  time  of  Hutton  and  Playfair  we  have  learned  that 
the  processes  of  mineral  detrition  and  deposition  are  contin- 
uous, and  have  been  so  throughout  geological  time.  The 
erosion  of  the  land  is  constantly  going  on,  every  shower  carries 
its  tribute  of  earthy  matter  toward  the  sea,  and  every  wave 
that  strikes  against  a  beach  or  cliff  does  some  work  toward 
the  grinding  of  shells,  pebbles  or  stone.  Thus,  everywhere 
around  our  continents  there  is  a  continuous  deposition  of  beds 
of  earthy  matter,  and  it  is  this  which,  when  elevated  into  new 
land,  has  given  us  our  chronological  series  of  geological  forma- 
tions. True,  the  elevating  process  is  not  continuous,  but,  so 


40      IMPERFECTION   OF   THE   GEOLOGICAL  RECORD 

far  as  we  know,  intermittent ;  but  it  has  been  so  often  repeated 
that  we  have  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  wasting  continents 
afford  a  complete  series  of  aqueous  deposits,  since  the  time 
when  the  dry  land  first  appeared. 

In  recent  years  the  Challenger  expedition  and  similar  dredg- 
ings  have  informed  us  of  still  another  continuity  of  deposition 
in  the  depths  of  the  ocean.  There,  where  no  detritus  from 
the  land,  or  only  a  very  little  fine  volcanic  ash  or  pumice  has 
ever  reached,  we  have,  going  on  from  age  to  age,  a  deposit  of 
the  hard  parts  of  abyssal  animals  and  of  those  that  swim  in 
the  open  sea ;  so  that  if  it  were  possible  to  bore  or  sink  a  shaft 
in  some  parts  of  the  ocean,  we  should  find  not  only  a  continu- 
ous bed,  but  a  continuous  series  of  pelagic  life  from  the 
Laurentian  to  the  present  day.  Thus  we  have  continuous 
physical  recprds,  could  we  but  reach  or  completely  put  them 
together,  and  eliminate  the  disturbing  influence  of  merely  local 
vicissitudes.  It  is  when  we  begin  to  search  the  geological 
formations  for  fossils,  that  imperfection  in  our  record  first 
becomes  painfully  manifest. 

In  the  case  of  many  groups  of  marine  animals,  as,  for 
example,  the  shell-fish  and  the  corals,  and  I  may  add  the 
bivalve  crustaceans,  so  admirably  worked  up  by  my  friend 
Prof.  Rupert  Jones,  we  have  very  complete  series.  With  the 
and  snails  the  case  is  altogether  different.  As  stated  in  an- 
other paper  of  this  series,  a  few  species  of  these  animals  appear 
in  the  later  Palaeozoic  age,  and  after  that  they  have  no  suc- 
cessors known  to  us  in  all  the  great  periods  covered  by  the 
Permian,  the  Trias,  and  the  earlier  Jurassic.  A  few  air-breath- 
ing water-snails  appear  in  the  upper  Jurassic,  and  true  land 
snails  are  not  met  with  again  until  the  Tertiary.  Were  there 
no  land  snails  in  this  vast  lapse  of  time?  Have  we  two  suc- 
cessive creations,  so  to  speak,  of  these  creatures  at  distant 
intervals  ?  Were  they  only  diminished  in  numbers  and  distri- 
bution in  the  intervening  time  ?  Is  the  hiatus  owing  merely 


IMPERFECTION    OF   THE   GEOLOGICAL    RECORD     41 

to  the  unlikelihood  of  such  shells  being  preserved  ?     Or  is  it 
owing  to  the  lack  of  diligence  and  care  in  collecting? 

In  this  particular  case  we  are,  no  doubt,  disposed  to  say 
that  the  series  must  have  been  continuous.  But  we  cannot 
be  sure  of  this.  In  whatever  way  a  few  species  of  land  snails 
were  so  early  introduced  in  the  time  of  the  Devonian  or  of 
the  Coal  formation,  if  from  physical  vicissitudes  or  lack  of 
proper  pabulum  they  became  extinct,  there  is  no  reason  known 
to  us  why,  when  circumstances  again  became  favourable,  they 
should  not  be  reintroduced  in  the  same  manner  as  at  first, 
whether  by  development  from  allied  types  or  otherwise.  The 
fact  that  the  few  Devonian  and  Carboniferous  species  are  very 
like  those  that  still  exist,  perhaps  makes  against  this  supposition, 
but  does  not  exclude  it.  If  we  suppose  that  new  forms  of  life 
of  low  grade  are  introduced  from  time  to  time  in  the  course 
of  the  geological  ages,  and  if  we  adopt  the  Darwinian  hypo- 
thesis of  evolution,  we  arrive,  as  Naegeli  has  so  well  pointed 
out,  at  the  strange  paradox,  that  the  highest  forms  of  life  must 
be  the  oldest  of  all,  since  they  will  be  the  descendants  of  the 
earliest  of  the  lower  animals,  whereas  the  animals  now  of  low 
grade  may  have  been  introduced  later,  and  may  not  have  had 
time  to  improve.  But  all  our  attempts  to  reduce  nature  to 
one  philosophic  expression  necessarily  lead  to  such  paradoxes. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  chances  of  the  preservation  of  land 
snails  in  aqueous  deposits  are  vastly  less  than  those  in  favour 
of  the  preservation  of  aquatic  species.  The  first  Carboniferous 
species  found1  had  been  preserved  in  the  very  exceptional 
circumstances  afforded  by  the  existence  of  hollow  trunks  of 
Sigillariae  on  the  borders  of  the  Coal  formation  flats,  and  the 
others  subsequently  found  were  in  beds  no  doubt  receiving 
the  drainage  of  neighbouring  land  areas.  Still  it  is  not  un- 
common on  the  modern  sea-shore,  anywhere  near  the  mouths 
of  rivers,  to  find  a  few  freshwater  shells  here  and  there.  The 

1  Pupa  vetusta  of  the  Nova  Scotia  coal  formation. 
3* 


42      IMPERFECTION   OF   THE   GEOLOGICAL   RECORD 

carbonaceous  beds  of  the  Trias,  the  fossil  soils  of  the  Portland 
series,  the  estuarine  Wealden  beds  would  seem  to  be  as  favour- 
ably situated  as  those  of  the  coal  formation  for  preserving  land 
shells,  though  possibly  the  flora  of  the  Mesozoic  was  less  suit- 
able for  feeding  such  creatures  than  that  of  the  Coal  period, 
and  they  may  consequently  have  become  few  and  local.  After 
all,  perhaps  more  diligent  collecting  and  more  numerous  col- 
lectors might  succeed,  and  may  succeed  in  the  future,  in  filling 
this  and  similar  gaps. 

It  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  discoveries  of  this  kind 
are  made  by  chance.  It  is  only  by  the  careful  and  painstaking 
examination  of  much  material  that  the  gaps  in  the  geological 
record  can  be  filled  up,  and  I  propose  in  the  sequel  of  this 
article  to  note  a  few  instances,  in  a  country  where  the  range 
of  territory  is  altogether  out  of  proportion  to  the  number  of 
observers,  and  which  have  come  within  my  own  knowledge. 

It  was  not  altogether  by  accident  that  Sir  C.  Lyell  and  the 
writer  discovered  a  few  reptilian  bones  and  a  land  snail  in 
breaking  up  portions  of  the  material  filling  an  erect  Sigillaria 
in  the  South  Joggins  coal  measures.  We  were  engaged  in  a 
deliberate  survey  of  the  section,  to  ascertain  as  far  as  might 
be  the  conditions  of  accumulation  of  coal,  and  one  point 
which  occurred  to  us  was  to  inquire  as  to  the  circumstances 
of  preservation  of  stumps  of  forest  trees  in  an  erect  position, 
to  trace  their  roots  into  the  soils  on  which  they  stood,  and  to 
ascertain  the  circumstances  in  which  they  had  been  buried, 
had  decayed,  and  had  been  filled  with  mineral  matter.  It  was 
in  questioning  these  erect  trees  on  such  subjects — and  this  not 
without  some  digging  and  hammering — that  we  made  the  dis- 
covery referred  to. 

But  we  found  such  remains  only  in  one  tree,  and  they  were 
very  imperfect,  and  indicated  only  two  species  of  batrachians 
and  one  land  snail.  There  the  discovery  might  have  rested. 
But  I  undertook  to  follow  it  up.  In  successive  visits  to  the 


IMPERFECTION  OF  THE  GEOLOGICAL  RECORD   43 

coast,  a  large  number  of  trees  standing  in  the  cliff  and  reefs, 
or  fallen  to  the  shore,  were  broken  up  and  examined,  the 
result  being  to  discover  that,  with  one  unimportant  exception, 
the  productive  trees  were  confined  to  one  of  the  beds  at  Coal 
Mine  Point,  that  from  which  the  original  specimens  had  been 
obtained.  Attention  was  accordingly  concentrated  on  this, 
and  as  many  as  thirty  trees  were  at  different  times  extracted 
from  it,  of  which  rather  more  than  one-half  proved  more  or 
less  productive.  By  these  means  bones  representing  about 
sixty  specimens  and  twelve  species  were  extracted,  besides 
numerous  remains  of  land  shells,  millipedes,  and  scorpions. 
In  this  way  a  very  complete  idea  was  obtained  of  the  land  life, 
or  at  least  of  the  smaller  land  animals,  of  this  portion  of  the 
coal  formation  of  Nova  Scotia.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
if  similar  repositories  could  be  found  in  the  succeeding  forma- 
tions, and  properly  worked  when  found,  our  record  of  the 
history  of  land  quadrupeds  might  be  made  very  complete. 

When  in  1855  I  changed  my  residence  from  Nova  Scotia  to 
Montreal,  and  so  was  removed  to  some  distance  from  the 
carboniferous  rocks  which  I  had  been  accustomed  to  study,  I 
naturally  felt  somewhat  out  of  place  in  a  Cambro-Silurian  dis- 
trict, more  especially  as  my  friend  Billings  had  already  almost 
exhausted  its  fossils.  I  found,  however,  a  congenial  field  in 
the  Pleistocene  shell  beds;  more  especially  as  I  had  given 
some  attention  to  recent  marine  animals  when  on  the  sea  coast. 
The  very  perfect  series  of  Pleistocene  deposits  in  the  St. 
Lawrence  valley  locally  contain  marine  shells  from  the  bottom 
of  the  till  or  boulder  clay  up  to  the  overlying  sands  and  gravels. 
The  assemblage  was  a  more  boreal  one  than  that  on  the  coast 
of  Nova  Scotia,  though  many  of  the  species  were  the  same, 
and  both  the  climatal  and  bathymetrial  conditions  differed  in 
different  parts  of  the  Pleistocene  beds  themselves.  The  gap 
in  the  record  here  could  at  that  time  be  filled  up  only  by  col- 
lecting recent  shells.  In  addition  to  what  could  be  obtained 


44      IMPERFECTION   OF   THE   GEOLOGICAL   RECORD 

by  exchanging  with  naturalists  who  had  collected  in  Greenland, 
Labrador,  and  Norway,  I  employed  myself,  summer  after 
summer,  in  dredging  both  on  the  south  and  north  shore  of 
the  St.  Lawrence,  until  able  at  length  to  discover  in  a  living 
state,  but  under  different  conditions  as  to  temperature  and 
depth,  nearly  every  species  found  in  the  beds  on  the  land, 
from  the  lower  boulder  clay  to  the  top  of  the  formation,  and 
from  the  sea-level  to  the  beds  six  hundred  feet  high  on  the 
hills.  Not  only  so  :  I  could  ascertain  in  certain  places  and 
conditions  all  the  peculiar  varieties  of  the  species,  and  the 
special  modes  of  life  which  they  indicated.  Thus,  in  the  cases 
of  the  Peter  Redpath  Museum,  and  in  notes  on  the  Post- 
pliocene  of  Canada,  the  gap  between  the  Modern  and  the 
Glacial  age  was  completely  filled  up  in  so  far  as  Canadian 
marine  species  are  concerned.  The  net  result  was,  as  I  have 
elsewhere  stated,  that  no  change  other  than  varietal  had 
occurred. 

In  studying  the  fossil  plants  of  the  Carboniferous,  so  abundant 
in  the  fine  exposures  of  the  coal  formation  in  Nova  Scotia, 
two  defects  struck  me  painfully.  One  was  the  fragmentary 
and  imperfect  state  of  the  specimens  procurable.  Another 
was  the  question,  What  preceded  these  plants  in  the  older 
rocks?  The  first  of  these  was  to  be  met  only  by  thorough 
exploration.  When  a  fragment  of  a  plant  was  disclosed  it  was 
necessary  to  inquire  if  more  existed  in  the  same  bed,  and  to 
dig,  or  blast  away  or  break  up  the  rock,  until  some  remaining 
portions  were  disclosed.  In  this  way  it  has  been  possible  to 
obtain  entire  specimens  of  many  trees  of  the  Carboniferous ; 
and  to  such  an  extent  has  the  laborious  and  somewhat  costly 
process  been  effectual,  that  more  species  of  carboniferous  trees 
are  probably  known  in  their  entire  forms  from  the  Coal  forma- 
tions of  Nova  Scotia  than  from  any  other  part  of  the  world. 
I  have  been  amused  to  find  that  so  little  are  experiences  of 
this  kind  known  to  some  of  my  confreres  abroad,  that  they 


IMPERFECTION   OF   THE   GEOLOGICAL   RECORD      45 

are  disposed  to  look  with  scepticism  on  the  information 
obtained  by  this  laborious  but  certain  process,  and  to  suppose 
that  they  are  being  presented  with  imaginary  "restorations." 
I  think  it  right  here  to  copy  a  remark  of  a  German  botanist, 
who  has  felt  himself  called  to  criticise  my  work  :  "  Dawson's 
description  of  the  genus  (Psilophyton)  rests  chiefly  on  the 
impression  made  on  him  in  his  repeated  researches,"  etc. 
"  He  puts  us  off  with  an  account  of  the  general  idea  which  he 
has  drawn  from  the  study  of  them."  This  is  the  remark  of  a 
closet  naturalist,  with  reference  to  the  kind  of  work  above 
referred  to,  which,  of  course,  cannot  be  represented  in  its 
entirety  in  figures  or  hand  specimens.1 

As  to  the  precursors  of  the  Carboniferous  flora,  in  default 
of  information  already  acquired,  I  proceeded  to  question  the 
Erian  or  Devonian  rocks  of  Canada,  in  which  Sir  William 
Logan  had  already  found  remains  of  plants  which  had  not, 
however,  been  studied  or  described.  Laboriously  coasting 
along  the  cliffs  of  Gaspe"  and  the  Baie  des  Chaleurs,  digging 
into  the  sandstones  of  Eastern  Maine,  and  studying  the  plants 
collected  by  the  New  York  Survey,  I  began  to  find  that  there 
was  a  rich  Devonian  flora,  and  that,  like  that  of  the  Carboni- 
ferous, it  presented  different  stages  from  the  base  to  the  summit 
of  the  formation.  But  here  a  great  advance  was  made  in  a 
somewhat  unexpected  way.  My  then  young  friends,  the  late 
Prof.  Hartt  and  Mr.  Matthew,  of  St.  John,  had  found  a  few 
remains  of  plants  in  the  Devonian,  or  at  least  pre-Carboniferous 
beds  of  St.  John,  which  were  placed  in  my  hands  for  descrip- 
tion. They  were  so  novel  and  curious  that  inquiry  was  stimu- 
lated, and  these  gentlemen,  with  some  friends  of  similar  tastes, 
explored  the  shales  exposed  in  the  reefs  near  St.  John,  and 
when  they  found  the  more  productive  beds,  broke  them  up  by 

1  Solms-Laubach,  "  Fossil  Botany."  A  pretentious  book,  which  should 
not  have  been  translated  into  English  without  thorough  revision  and 
correction. 


46      IMPERFECTION   OF   THE   GEOLOGICAL   RECORD 

actual  quarrying  operations  in  such  a  way  that  they  soon 
obtained  the  richest  Devonian  plant  collections  ever  known. 
I  think  I  may  truly  say  that  these  young  and  enthusiastic 
explorers  worked  the  St.  John  plant-beds  in  a  manner  pre- 
viously unexampled  in  the  world.  Their  researches  were  not 
only  thus  rewarded,  but  incidentally  they  discovered  the  first 
known  Devonian  insects,  which  could  not  have  been  found 
by  a  less  painstaking  process,  and  one  of  them  discovered 
what  I  believe  to  be  the  oldest  known  land  shell.  Still  more, 
their  studies  led  to  the  separation  from  the  Devonian  beds  of 
the  Underlying  Cambrian  slates,  previously  confounded  with 
them ;  and  this,  followed  up  by  the  able  and  earnest  work  of 
Mr.  Matthew,  has  carried  back  our  knowledge  of  the  older 
rocks  in  Canada  several  stages,  or  as  far  as  the  earliest 
Cambrian  previously  known  in  Europe,  but  not  before  fully 
recognised  in  America,  and  has  discovered  in  these  old  rocks 
the  precursors  of  many  forms  of  life  not  previously  traced  so 
far  back. 

The  moral  of  these  statements  of  fact  is  that  the  imper- 
fections of  the  record  will  yield  only  to  patient  and  painstaking 
work,  and  that  much  is  in  the  power  of  local  amateurs.  I 
would  enforce  this  last  statement  by  a  reference  to  a  little 
research,  in  which  I  have  happened  to  take  part  at  a  summer 
resort  on  the  Lower  St.  Lawrence,  at  which  I  have  from  time 
to  time  spent  a  few  restful  vacation  weeks.  Little  Metis  is  on 
the  Quebec  Group  of  Sir  William  Logan,  that  peculiar  local 
representative  of  the  lower  part  of  the  Cambro-Silurian  and 
Upper  Cambrian  formations  which  stretches  along  the  south 
side  of  the  St.  Lawrence  all  the  way  from  Quebec  to  Cape 
Rosier,  near  Gaspe",  a  distance  of  five  hundred  miles.  This 
great  series  of  rocks  is  a  jumble  of  deposits  belonging  at  that 
early  time  to  the  marginal  area  of  what  is  now  the  American 
continent,  and  indicating  the  action  not  merely  of  ordinary 
causes  of  aqueous  deposit,  but  of  violent  volcanic  ejections, 


IMPERFECTION    OF   THE   GEOLOGICAL   RECORD      47 

accompanied  perhaps  by  earthquake  waves,  and  not  improb- 
ably by  the  action  of  heavy  coast  ice.  The  result  is  that  mud 
rocks  now  in  the  form  of  black,  grey,  and  red  shales  arid  slates 
alternate  with  thick  and  irregular  beds  of  hard  sandstone, 
sometimes  so  coarse  that  it  resembles  the  angular  debris  of  the 
first  treatment  of  quartz  in  a  crusher.  With  these  sandstones 
are  thick  and  still  more  irregular  conglomerates  formed  of 
pebbles  and  boulders  of  all  sizes,  up  to  several  feet  in  diameter, 
some  of  which  are  of  older  limestones  containing  Cambrian 
fossils,  while  others  are  of  quartzite  or  of  igneous  or  volcanic 
rocks. 

The  whole  formation,  as  presented  at  Metis,  is  of  the  most 
unpromising  character  as  regards  fossils,  and  after  visiting  the 
place  for  ten  years,  and  taking  many  long  walks  along  the 
shore  and  into  the  interior,  and  scrutinising  every  exposure,  I 
had  found  nothing  more  interesting  than  a  few  fragments  of 
graptolites,  little  zoophytes,  ancient  representatives  of  our  sea 
mosses,  and  which  are  quite  characteristic  of  several  portions 
of  the  Quebec  Group.  With  these  were  some  marks  of 
fucoids  and  tracks  or  burrows  of  worms.  The  explorers  of  the 
Geological  Survey  had  been  equally  unsuccessful. 

Quite  accidentally  a  new  light  broke  upon  these  unpromis- 
ing rocks.  My  friend,  Dr.  Harrington,  strolling  one  day  on 
the  shore,  sat  down  to  rest  on  a  stone,  and  picked  up  a  piece 
of  black  slate  lying  at  his  feet.  He  noticed  on  it  some  faintly 
traced  lines  which  seemed  peculiar.  He  put  it  in  his  pocket 
and  showed  it  to  me.  On  examination  with  a  lens  it  proved 
to  have  on  it  a  few  spicules  of  a  hexactinellid  sponge — little 
crosses  forming  a  sort  of  mesh  or  lattice-work  similar  to  that 
which  Salter  had  many  years  before  found  in  the  Cambrian 
rocks  of  Wales,  and  had  named  Protospongia — the  first  sponge. 
The  discovery  seemed  worth  following  up,  and  we  took  an 
early  opportunity  of  proceeding  to  the  place,  where,  after  some 
search,  we  succeeded  in  tracing  the  loose  pieces  to  a  ledge  of 


48   IMPERFECTION  OF  THE  GEOLOGICAL  RECORD 

shale  on  the  beach,  where  there  was  a  little  band,  only  about  an 
inch  thick,  stored  with  remains  of  sponges,  a  small  bivalve  shell 
and  a  slender  branching  seaweed.  This  was  one  small  layer 
in  reefs  of  slate  more  than  one  hundred  feet  thick.  We  sub- 
sequently found  two  other  thin  layers,  but  less  productive. 
Tools  and  workmen  were  procured,  and  we  proceeded  to 
quarry  in  the  reef,  taking  out  at  low  tide  as  large  slabs  as 
possible  of  the  most  productive  layer,  and  carefully  splitting 
these  up.  The  results,  as  published  in  the  Transactions  of 
the  Royal  Society  of  Canada,1  show  more  than  twelve  species 
of  siliceous  sponges  belonging  to  six  genera,  besides  fragments 
indicating  other  species,  and  all  of  these  living  at  one  time  on 
a  very  limited  space  of  what  is  practically  a  single  surface  of 
muddy  sea-bottom.2  The  specimens  show  the  parts  of  these 
ancient  sponges  much  more  perfectly  than  they  were  previously 
known,  and  indeed,  enable  many  of  them  to  be  perfectly  re- 
stored. They  for  the  first  time  connect  the  modern  siliceous 
sponges  of  the  deep  sea  with  those  that  flourished  on  the  old 
sea-bottom  of  the  early  Cambro-Silurian,  and  thus  bridge  over 
a  great, gap  in  the  history  of  this  low  form  of  life,  showing  that 
the  principles  of  construction  embodied  in  the  remarkable 
and  beautiful  siliceous  sponges,  like  Euplectella,  the  "  Venus 
flower-basket,"  now  dredged  from  the  deep  sea,  were  already 
perfectly  carried  out  in  this  far-back  beginning  of  life.  This 
little  discovery  further  indicates  that  portions  of  the  older 
Palaeozoic  sea-bottoms  were  as  well  stored  with  a  varied 
sponge  life  as  those  of  any  part  of  the  modern  ocean.  I 
figure  3  a  number  of  species,  remains  of  all  of  which  may  be 
gathered  from  a  few  yards  of  a  single  surface  at  Little  Metis. 
The  multitude  of  interesting  details  embodied  in  all  this  it  is 
impossible  to  enter  into  here,  but  may  be  judged  of  from 

1  Additional  collections  made   in  1892  show  two  or  three  additional 
species,  one  of  thein  the  type  of  a  new  and  remarkable  genus. 
*  1889,  section  iv.  p.  39.  8  Frontispiece  to  chapter. 


IMPERFECTION  OF  THE  GEOLOGICAL  RECORD   49 

the  forms  reproduced.  These  examples  tend  to  show  that  the 
imperfection  of  the  record  may  not  depend  on  the  record  itself, 
but  on  the  incompleteness  of  our  work.  We  must  make  large 
allowance  for  imperfect  collecting,  and  especially  for  the  too 
prevalent  habit  of  remaining  content  with  few  and  incomplete 
specimens,  and  of  grudging  the  time  and  labour  necessary  to 
explore  thoroughly  the  contents  of  special  beds,  and  to  work 
out  all  the  parts  of  forms  found  more  or  less  in  fragments. 

The  point  of  all  this  at  present  is  that  patient  work  is  needed 
to  fill  up  the  breaks  in  our  record.  A  collector  passing  along 
the  shore  at  Metis  might  have  picked  up  a  fragment  of  a  fossil 
sponge,  and  recorded  it  as  a  fossil,  or  possibly  described  the 
fragment.  This  fact  alone  would  have  been  valuable,  but  to 
make  it  bear  its  full  fruit  it  was  necessary  to  trace  the  fragment 
to  its  source,  and  then  to  spend  time  and  labour  in  extracting 
from  the  stubborn  rock  the  story  it  had  to  tell.  Instances  of 
this  kind  crowd  on  my  memory  as  coming  within  my  own  ex- 
perience and  observation.  It  is  hopeful  to  think  that  the  re- 
cord is  daily  becoming  less  imperfect;  it  is  stimulating  to 
know  that  so  much  is  only  waiting  for  investigation.  The  his- 
tory never  can  be  absolutely  complete.  Practically,  to  us  it  is 
infinite.  Yet  every  series  of  facts  known  may  be  complete  in 
itself  for  certain  purposes,  however  many  gaps  there  may  be 
in  the  story.  Even  if  we  cannot  find  a  continuous  series  be- 
tween the  snails  of  the  Coal  formation  or  the  sponges  of  the 
Quebec  Group  and  their  successors  to-day,  we  can  at  least  see 
that  they  are  identical  in  plan  and  structure,  and  can  note  the 
differences  of  detail  which  fitted  them  for  their  places  in  the 
ancient  or  the  modern  world.  Nor  need  we  be  too  discontented 
if  the  order  of  succession,  such  as  it  is,  does  not  exactly  square 
with  some  theories  we  may  have  formed.  Perhaps  it  may  in 
the  end  lead  us  to  greater  and  better  truths. 

Another  subject  which  merits  attention  here  is  the  evidence 
which  mere  markings  or  other  indications  may  sometimes  give 


50   IMPERFECTION  OF  THE  GEOLOGICAL  RECORD 

as  to  the  existence  of  unknown  creatures,  and  thus  may  be  as 
important  to  us  as  the  footprints  of  Friday  to  Robinson  Crusoe. 
As  I  have  been  taking  Canadian  examples,  I  may  borrow  one 
here  from  Mr.  Matthew,  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick. 

He  remarks  in  one  of  his  papers  the  manner  in  which  the 
Trilobites  of  the  early  Cambrian  are  protected  with  defensive 
spines,  and  asks  against  what  enemies  they  were  intended  to 
guard.  That  there  were  enemies  is  further  proved  by  the  oc- 
currence of  Coprolites  or  masses  of  excrement,  oval  or  cylin- 
drical in  form,  and  containing  fragments  of  shells  of  Trilobites, 
of  Pteropods  (Hyolithes)  and  of  Lingula.  There  must  there- 
fore have  been  marine  animals  of  considerable  size,  which 
preyed  on  Trilobites.  Dr.  Hunt  and  myself  have  recorded 
similar  facts  from  the  Upper  Cambrian  and  Cambro- Silurian 
of  the  Province  of  Quebec.  No  remains,  however,  are  known 
of  animals  which  could  have  produced  such  coprolites,  except, 
indeed,  some  of  the  larger  worms  of  the  period,  and  they  seem 
scarcely  large  enough.  In  these  circumstances  Mr.  Matthew 
falls  back  on  certain  curious  marks  or  scratches  with  which 
large  surfaces  of  these  old  rocks  are  covered,  and  which  he 
names  Ctenichnites  or  "  Comb  tracks."  These  markings 
seem  to  indicate  the  rapid  motion  of  some  animal  touching 
the  bottom  with  fins  or  other  organs ;  and  as  we  know  no  fishes 
in  these  old  rocks,  the  question  recurs,  What  could  it  have 
been?  From  the  form  and  character  of  the  markings  Mr. 
Matthew  infers  (i)  That  these  animals  lived  in  "schools,"  or 
were  social  in  their  habits  ;  (2)  That  they  had  a  rapid,  direct, 
darting  motion;  (3)  That  they  had  three  or  four  (at  least) 
flexible  arms ;  (4)  That  these  arms  were  furnished  with  hooks 
or  spines  ;  (5)  That  the  creatures  swam  with  an  easy  motion, 
so  that  sometimes  the  arms  of  one  side  touched  the  bottom, 
sometimes  those  of  the  other.  These  indications  point  to 
animals  allied  to  the  modern  squids  or  cuttlefishes,  and  as 
these  animals  may  have  had  no  hard  parts  capable  of  pre- 


IMPERFECTION  OF  THE  GEOLOGICAL  RECORD   5  I 

servation,  except  their  horny  beaks,  nothing  might  remain  to 
indicate  their  presence  except  these  marks  on  the  bottom. 
Mr.  Matthew  therefore  conjectures  that  there  may  have  been 
large  cuttlefishes  in  the  Cambrian.  Since,  however,  these  are 
animals  of  very  high  rank  in  their  class,  and  are  not  certainly 
known  to  us  till  a  very  much  later  period,  their  occurrence  in 
these  old  rocks  would  be  a  very  remarkable  and  unexpected 
fact. 

A  discovery  made  by  Walcott  in  the  Western  States  since 
Mr.  Matthew's  paper  was  written,  throws  fresh  light  on  the 
question.  Remains  of  fishes  have  been  found  by  the 
former  in  the  Cambro  Silurian  rocks  nearly  as  far  back  as 
Mr.  Matthew's  comb-tracks.  Besides  this,  Pander  in  Russia 
has  found  in  these  old  rocks  curious  teeth,  which  he  refers 
conjecturally  to  fishes  (Conodonts).  Why  may  there  not  have 
been  in  the  Cambrian  large  fishes  having,  like  the  modern 
sharks,  cartilage  or  gristle  instead  of  bone — perhaps  destitute 
of  scales,  and  with  small  teeth  which  have  not  yet  been  de- 
tected. The  fin  rays  of  such  fishes  may  have  left  the  comb 
tracks,  and  in  support  of  this  I  may  say  that  there  are  in  the 
Lower  Carboniferous  of  Horton  Bluff,  in  Nova  Scotia,  very 
similar  tracks  in  beds  holding  many  remains  of  fishes.  Which- 
ever view  we  adopt  we  see  good  evidence  that  there  were  in 
the  early  Cambrian  animals  of  higher  grade  than  we  have  yet 
dreamt  of.  Observe,  however,  that  if  we  could  complete  the 
record  in  this  point  it  would  only  give  us  higher  forms  of  life 
at  an  earlier  time,  and  so  push  farther  back  their  possible 
development  from  lower  forms.  I  fear,  indeed,  that  I  can 
hold  out  little  hopes  to  the  evolutionists  that  a  more  complete 
geological  record  would  help  them  in  any  way.  It  would 
possibly  only  render  their  position  more  difficult. 

But  the  saddest  of  all  the  possible  defects  of  the  geological 
record  is  that  it  may  want  the  beginning,  and  be  like  the 
Bible  of  some  of  the  German  historical  critics,  from  which  they 


52      IMPERFECTION    OF   THE   GEOLOGICAL   RECORD 

eliminate  as  mythical  everything  before  the  time  of  the  later 
Hebrew  kings.  Our  attention  is  forcibly  called  to  this  by  the 
condition  of  the  fauna  of  the  earliest  Cambrian  rocks.  The 
discoveries  in  these  in  Wales,  in  Norway,  and  in  America  show 
us  that  the  seas  of  this  early  period  swarmed  with  animals  re- 
presenting all  the  great  types  of  invertebrate  marine  life.  We 
have  here  highly  organized  Crustaceans,  Worms,  Mollusks  and 
other  creatures  which  show  us  that  in  that  early  age  all  these 
distinct  forms  of  life  were  as  well  separated  from  each  other 
as  in  later  times,  that  eyes  of  different  types,  jointed  limbs 
with  nerves  and  muscles,  and  a  vast  variety  of  anatomical 
contrivances  were  as  highly  developed  as  at  any  subsequent 
time.1  To  a  Darwinian  evolutionist  this  means  nothing  less 
than  that  these  creatures  must  have  existed  through  countless 
ages  of  development  from  their  imagined  simple  ancestral 
form  or  forms— how  long  it  is  impossible  to  guess,  since,  unless 
change  was  more  speedy  in  the  infancy  of  the  earth,  the  term 
of  ages  required  must  have  far  exceeded  that  from  the  Cam- 
brian to  the  Modern.  Yet,  to  represent  all  this  we  have  abso- 
lutely nothing  except  Eozoon  in  its  solitary  grandeur,  and  a 

1  Walcott  and  Matthew  record  more  than  160  species  of  67  genera,  in- 
cluding Sponges,  Zoophytes,  Echinoderms,  Brachiopods,  Bivalve  and 
Univalve  shellfishes,  Trilobites  and  other  Crustaceans  from  the  Lower 
Cambrian  of  the  United  States  of  America  and  Canada  alone  ;  and  these 
are  but  a  portion  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  early  Cambrian  seas.  There  is 
a  rich  Scandinavian  fauna  of  the  same  early  date,  and  in  England  and 
Wales,  Sailer,  Hicks  and  Lapworth  have  described  many  fossils  of  the 
basal  Cambrian.  From  year  to  year,  also,  discoveries  of  fossil  remains  are 
being  made,  both  in  America  and  Europe,  in  beds  of  older  date  than  those 
previously  known  to  be  fossil iferous.  At  present,  however,  these  remains 
are  still  few  and  imperfectly  known,  and  it  is  not  in  all  cases  certain 
whether  the  beds  in  which  they  occur  are  pre-Cambrian  or  belong  to  the 
lowest  members  of  that  great  system.  It  is  unfortunate  that  so  many 
of  the  strata  between  the  Laurentian  and  the  Cambrian  seem  to  be  of  a 
character  little  likely  to  contain  fossils ;  being  littoral  deposits  produced 
in  times  of  much  physical  disturbance.  Yet  there  must  have  been  con- 
temporaneous beds  of  a  different  character,  which  may  yet  be  discovered. 


IMPERFECTION  OF  THE  GEOLOGICAL  RECORD   53 

few  other  forms,  possibly  of  Protozoa  and  worms.  An  im- 
aginary phylogeny  of  animal  life  from  Monads  to  Trilobites 
would  be  something  as  long  as  the  whole  geological  history. 
Yet  it  would  be  almost  wholly  imaginary,  for  the  record  of  the 
rocks  tells  little  or  nothing.  In  face  of  such  an  imperfection 
as  this,  geologists  should  surely  be  humble,  and  make  confes- 
sion of  ignorance  to  any  extent  that  may  be  desired.  Yet  we 
may  at  least,  with  all  humility  and  self-abasement,  ask  our 
critics  how  they  know  that  this  great  blank  really  exists,  and 
whether  it  may  not  be  possible  that  the  swarming  life  of  the 
early  Cambrian  may,  after  all,  have  appeared  suddenly  on  the 
stage  in  some  way  as  yet  unknown  to  us  and  to  them. 

REFERENCES  :  "  Fossil  Sponges  from  the  Quebec  Group  of  Little  Metis, 
Lower  St.  Lawrence":  Transactions  Royal  Society  of  Canada^  1890. 
"Resume  of  the  Carboniferous  Land  Shells  of  North  America": 
American  Journal  of  Science,  1880.  "  Burrows  and  Tracks  of  In- 
vertebrate Animals"  :  Journal  Geological  Society  of  London,  1890. 
"Notes  on  the  Pleistocene  of  Canada"  :  Canatiian  Naturalist,  1876. 
"Air-breathers  of  the  Coal  Period  "  :  Ibid.,  1863. 


THE  HISTORY  OF   THE  NORTH  ATLANTIC. 

DEDICATED    TO   THE    MEMORY    OF 

PROF.    JOHN    PHILLIPS, 

OF    OXFORD, 

ONE  OF  THE  MOST  ABLE,  EARNEST,  AND  GENIAL  OP 

ENGLISH  GEOLOGISTS  ; 
AND  OF  OTHER  EMINENT  SCIENTIFIC  MEN,  NOW  PASSED  AWAY, 

WHO  SUPPORTED  HIM  AS 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  BRITISH  ASSOCIATION,  AT  ITS 
MEETING  IN  BIRMINGHAM,  IN  1865. 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  LAND  AND  WATER— CAUSES  OF  IRREGU- 
LARITIES OF  THE  SURFACE  CRUST  AND  INTERIOR — 
POSITION  OF  CONTINENTS — PAST  HISTORY  OF  THE 
ATLANTIC — ITS  RELATIONS  TO  LIFE — ITS  FUTURE 


CHAPTER  IV. 
THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  NORTH  ATLANTIC. 

I  HAD  the  pleasure  of  being  present  at  the  meeting  of  the 
British  Association  at  Birmingham,  in  1865  :  a  meeting 
attended  by  an  unusually  large  number  of  eminent  geologists, 
under  the  presidency  of  my  friend  Phillips.  I  had  the  further 
pleasure  of  being  his  successor  at  the  meeting  in  the  same 
place,  in  1886;  and  the  subject  of  this  chapter  is  that  to 
which  I  directed  the  attention  of  the  Association  in  my 
Presidential  address.  I  fear  it  is  a  feeble  and  imperfect  utter- 
ance compared  with  that  which  might  have  been  given  forth  by 
any  of  the  great  men  present  in  1865,  and  who  have  since  left 
us,  could  they  have  spoken  with  the  added  knowledge  of  the 
intervening  twenty  years. 

The  geological  history  of  the  Atlantic  appeared  to  be  a 
suitable  subject  for  a  trans-Atlantic  president,-  and  to  a  Society 
which  had  vindicated  its  claim  to  be  British  in  the  widest 
sense  by  holding  a  meeting  in  Canada,  while  it  was  also 
meditating  a  visit  to  Australia — a  visit  not  yet  accomplished, 
but  in  which  it  may  now  meet  with  a  worthy  daughter  in  the 
Australian  Association  formed  since  the  meeting  of  1886.  The 
subject  is  also  one  carrying  our  thoughts  very  far  back  in 
geological  time,  and  connecting  itself  with  some  of  the  latest 
and  most  important  discussions  and  discoveries  in  the  science 
of  the  earth,  furnishing,  indeed,  too  many  salient  points  to  be 
profitably  occupied  in  a  single  chapter. 

If  we  imagine  an  observer  contemplating  the  earth  from  a 


58          THE   HISTORY   OF   THE    NORTH   ATLANTIC 

convenient  distance  in  space,  and  scrutinizing  its  features  as  it 
rolls  before  him,  we  may  suppose  him  to  be  struck  with  the 
fact  that  eleven-sixteenths  of  its  surface  are  covered  with  water, 
and  that  the  land  is  so  unequally  distributed  that  from  one 
point  of  view  he  would  see  a  hemisphere  almost  exclusively 
oceanic,  while  nearly  the  whole  of  the  dry  land  is  gathered  in 
the  opposite  hemisphere.  He  might  observe  that  large  portions 
of  the  great  oceanic  areas  of  the  Pacific  and  Antarctic  Oceans 
are  dotted  with  islands — like  a  shallow  pool  with  stones  rising 
above  its  surface — as  if  the  general  depth  were  small  in  com- 
parison with  the  area.  Other  portions  of  these  oceans  he 
might  infer,  from  the  colour  of  the  water  and  the  absence  of 
islands,  cover  deep  depressions  in  the  earth's  surface.  He 
might  also  notice  that  a  mass  or  belt  of  land  surrounds  each 
pole,  and  that  the  northern  ring  sends  off  to  the  southward 
three  vast  tongues  of  land  and  of  mountain  chains,  terminating 
respectively  in  South  America,  South  Africa,  and  Australia, 
towards  which  feebler  and  insular  processes  are  given  off  by 
the  antarctic  continental  mass.  This,  as  some  geographers 
have  observed, l  gives  a  rudely  three-ribbed  aspect  to  the  earth, 
though  two  of  the  ribs  are  crowded  together,  and  form  the 
Eurasian  mass  or  double  continent,  while  the  third  is  isolated 
in  the  single  continent  of  America.  He  might  also  observe 
that  the  northern  girdle  is  cut  across,  so  that  the  Atlantic 
opens  by  a  wide  space  into  the  Arctic  Sea,  while  the  Pacific  is 
contracted  toward  the  north,  but  confluent  with  the  Antarctic 
Ocean.  The  Atlantic  is  also  relatively  deeper  and  less  cum- 
bered with  islands  than  the  Pacific,  which  has  the  highest 
ridges  near  its  shores,  constituting  what  some  visitors  to  the 
Pacific  coast  of  America  have  not  inaptly  called  the  "  back  of 
the  world,"  while  the  wider  slopes  face  the  narrower  ocean. 
The  Pacific  and  Atlantic,  though  both  depressions  or  flat- 

1  Dana,  "  Manual  of  Geology,"  introductory  part.     Green,  "  Vestiges 
of  a  Molten  Globe,"  has  summed  up  these  facts. 


THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC          59 

tenings  of  the  earth,  are,  as  we  shall  find,  different  in  age, 
character,  and  conditions;  and  the  Atlantic,  though  the  smaller, 
is  the  older,  and,  from  the  geological  point  of  view,  in  some 
respects,  the  more  important  of  the  two  ;  while,  by  virtue  of  its 
lower  borders  and  gentler  slope,  it  is,  though  the  smaller  basin, 
the  recipient  of  the  greater  rivers,  and  of  a  proportionately 
great  amount  of  the  drainage  of  the  land.1 

If  our  imaginary  observer  had  the  means  of  knowing  any- 
thing of  the  rock  formations  of  the  continents,  he  would  notice 
that  those  bounding  the  North  Atlantic  are,  in  general,  of 
great  age — some  belonging  to  the  Laurentian  system.  On  the 
other  hand,  he  would  see  that  many  of  the  mountain  ranges 
along  the  Pacific  are  comparatively  new,  and  that  modern 
igneous  action  occurs  in  connection  with  them.  Thus  he 
might  see  in  the  Atlantic,  though  comparatively  narrow,  a 
more  ancient  feature  of  the  earth's  surface ;  while  the  Pacific 
belongs  to  more  modern  times.  But  he  would  note,  in  con- 
nection with  this,  that  the  oldest  rocks  of  the  great  continental 
masses  are  mostly  toward  their  northern  ends ;  and  that  the 
borders  of  the  northern  ring  of  land,  and  certain  ridges  en- 
tending  southward  from  it,  constitute  the  most  ancient  and 
permanent  elevations  of  the  earth's  crust,  though  now  greatly 
surpassed  by  mountains  of  more  recent  age  nearer  the  equator, 
so  that  the  continents  of  the  northern  hemisphere  seem  to 
have  grown  progressively  from  north  to  south. 

If  the  attention  of  our  observer  were  directed  to  more 
modern  processes,  he  might  notice  that  while  the  antarctic 
continent  freely  discharges  its  burden  of  ice  to  the  ocean  north 
of  it,  the  arctic  ice  has  fewer  outlets,  and  that  it  mainly  dis- 
charges itself  through  the  North  Atlantic,  where  also  the  great 
mass  of  Greenland  stands  as  a  huge  condenser  and  cooler, 

*  Mr.  Mellard  Reade,  in  two  Presidential  addresses  before  the  Geo- 
logical Society  of  Liverpool,  has  illustrated  this  point  and  its  geological 
consequences. 


6O          THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC 

unexampled  elsewhere  in  the  world,  throwing  every  spring  an 
immense  quantity  of  ice  into  the  North  Atlantic,  and  more 
especially  into  its  western  part.  On  the  other  hand,  he  might 
learn  from  the  driftage  of  weed  and  the  colour  of  the  water, 
that  the  present  great  continuous  extension  and  form  of  the 
American  continent  tend  to  throw  northward  a  powerful  branch 
of  the  equatorial  current,  which,  revolving  around  the  North 
Atlantic,  counteracts  the  great  flow  of  ice  which  otherwise 
would  condemn  it  to  a  perpetual  winter. 

Further,  such  an  observer  would  not  fail  to  notice  that  the 
ridges  which  lie  along  the  edges  of  the  oceans  and  the  ebul- 
litions of  igneous  matter  which  proceed,  or  have  proceeded 
from  them,  are  consequences  of  the  settling  downward  of  the 
great  oceanic  depressions,  a  settling  ever  intensified  by  their 
receiving  more  and  more  of  deposit  on  their  surfaces ;  and 
that  this  squeezing  upward  of  the  borders  of  these  depressions 
into  folds  has  been  followed  or  alternated  with  elevations  and 
depressions  without  any  such  folding,  and  proceeding  from 
other  causes.  On  the  whole,  it  would  be  apparent  that  these 
actions  are  more  vigorous  now  at  the  margins  of  the  Pacific 
area,  while  the  Atlantic  is  backed  by  very  old  foldings,  or  by 
plains  and  slopes  from  which  it  has,  so  to  speak,  dried  away 
without  any  internal  movement.  Thus  it  would  appear  that 
the  Pacific  is  the  great  centre  of  earth-movement,  while  the 
Atlantic  trench  is  the  more  potent  regulator  of  temperature, 
and  the  ocean  most  likely  to  be  severely  affected  in  this  respect 
by  small  changes  of  its  neighbouring  land.  Last  of  all,  an 
observer,  such  as  I  have  supposed,  would  see  that  the  oceans 
are  the  producers  of  moisture  and  the  conveyors  of  heat  to  the 
northern  regions  of  the  world,  and  that  in  this  respect  and  in 
the  immense  condensation  and  delivery  of  ice  at  its  north  end, 
the  Atlantic  is  by  far  the  more  active,  though  the  smaller  of 
the  two. 

So  much  could  be  learned  by  an  extra-mundane  observer ; 


THE   HISTORY   OF   THE    NORTH  ATLANTIC          6 1 

but  unless  he  had  also  enjoyed  opportunities  of  studying  the 
rocks  of  the  earth  in  detail  and  close  at  hand,  or  had  been 
favoured  by  some  mundane  friend  with  a  perusal  of  "  Lyell's 
Elements,"  or  "Dana's  Manual,"  he  would  not  be  able  to  ap- 
preciate as  we  can  the  changes  which  the  Atlantic  has  seen  in 
geological  time,  and  in  which  it  has  been  a  main  factor.  Nor 
could  he  learn  from  such  superficial  observation  certain  secrets 
of  the  deep  sea,  which  have  been  unveiled  by  the  sounding 
lead,  the  inequalities  of  the  ocean  basin,  its  few  profound  depths, 
like  inverted  mountains  or  table-lands,  its  vast  nearly  flat 
abyssmal  floor,  and  the  sudden  rise  of  this  to  the  hundred 
fathom  line,  forming  a  terrace  or  shelf  around  the  sides  of 
the  continents.  These  features,  roughly  represented  in  the 
map  prefixed,  he  would  be  unable  to  perceive. 

Before  leaving  this  broad  survey,  we  may  make  one  further 
remark.  An  observer,  looking  at  the  earth  from  without, 
would  notice  that  the  margins  of  the  Atlantic  and  the  main 
lines  of  direction  of  its  mountain  chains  are  north-east  and 
south-west,  and  north-west  and  south-east,  as  if  some  early 
causes  had  determined  the  occurrence  of  elevations  along 
great  circles  of  the  earth's  surface  tangent  to  the  polar  circles. 

We  are  invited  by  the  preceding  general  glance  at  the  surface 
of  the  earth  to  ask  certain  questions  respecting  the  Atlantic, 
(i)  What  has  at  first  determined  its  position  and  form?  (2) 
What  changes  has  it  experienced  in  the  lapse  of  geological 
time  ?  (3)  What  relations  have  these  changes  borne  to  the 
development  of  life  on  the  land  and  in  the  water  ?  (4)  What 
is  its  probable  future? 

Before  attempting  to  answer  these  questions,  which  I  shall 
not  take  up  formally  in  succession,  but  rather  in  connection 
with  each  other,  it  is  necessary  to  state,  as  briefly  as  possible, 
certain  general  conclusions  respecting  the  interior  of  the  earth. 
It  is  popularly  supposed  that  we  know  nothing  of  this  beyond 
a  superficial  crust  perhaps  averaging  50,000  to  100,000  feet  in 


62          THE   HISTORY  OF  THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC 

thickness.  It  is  true  we  have  no  means  of  exploration  in  the 
earth's  interior,  but  the  conjoined  labours  of  physicists  have 
now  proceeded  sufficiently  far  to  throw  much  inferential  light 
on  the  subject,  and  to  enable  us  to  make  some  general  affirma- 
tions with  certainty ;  and  these  it  is  the  more  necessary  to 
state  distinctly,  since  they  are  often  treated  as  mere  subjects  of 
speculation  and  fruitless  discussion. 

(1)  Since  the  dawn  of  geological  science,  it  has  been  evi- 
dent that  the  crust  on  which  we  live  must  be  supported  on  a 
plastic  or  partially  liquid  mass  of  heated  rock,  approximately 
uniform  in  quality  under  the  whole  of  its  area.      This  is  a 
legitimate  conclusion  from  the  wide  distribution  of  volcanic 
phenomena,  and  from  the  fact  that  the  ejections  of  volcanoes, 
while  locally  of  various  kinds,  are  similar  in  every  part  of  the 
world.     It  led  to  the  old  idea  of  a  fluid  interior  of  the  earth, 
but  this  seems  now  generally  abandoned,  and  this   interior 
heated  and  plastic  layer  is  regarded  as  merely  an  under-crust, 
resting  on  a  solid  nucleus. l 

(2)  We  have  reason  to  believe,  as  the  result  of  astronomical 
investigations,2  that,  notwithstanding  the  plasticity  or  liquidity 
of  the  under-crust,  the  mass  of  the  earth — its  nucleus  as  we 
may  call  it— is  practically  solid  and  of   great   density    and 
hardness.     Thus  we  have  the  apparent  paradox  of  a  solid  yet 
fluid    earth ;     solid   in  its  astronomical  relations,  liquid   or 

1  I  do  not  propose  to  express  any  definite  opinion  as  to  this  question,  as 
either  conclusion  will  satisfy  the  demands  of  geology.  It  would  seem, 
however,  that  astronomers  now  admit  a  slight  periodical  deformation  of 
the  crust.  See  Lord  Kelvin's  Anniversary  Address  to  Royal  Society, 
1892. 

1  Hopkins,  Mallet,  Lord  Kelvin,  and  Prof.  G.  H.  Darwin  maintain 
the  solidity  and  rigidity  of  the  earth  on  astronomical  grounds  ;  but  different 
conclusions  have  been  reached  by  Fisher,  Hennesey,  Delaunay,  and  Airy. 
In  America,  Hunt,  Barnard  and  Crosby,  Button,  Le  Conte  and  Wadsworth 
have  discussed  these  questions.  Bonney  has  suggested  that  a  mass  may  be 
slowly  mobile  under  long-continued  pressure,  while  rigid  with  reference  to 
more  sudden  movements. 


THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC          63 

plastic  for  the  purposes  of  volcanic  action  and  superficial  move- 
ments. 

(3)  The  plastic  sub-crust  is  not  in  a  state  of  dry  igneous 
fusion,  but  in  that  condition  of  aqueo-igneous  or  hydrothermic 
fusion  which  arises  from  the  action  of  heat  on  moist  substances, 
and  which  may  either  be  regarded  as  a  fusion  or  as  a  species 
of  solution  at  a  very  high  temperature.      This  we  learn  from 
the  phenomena  ^of  volcanic  action,  and  from  the  composition 
of  the  volcanic  and    plutonic   rocks,  as  well  as  from    such 
chemical  experiments  as  those  of  Daubre"e,  and  of  Tilden,  and 
Shenstone.1     It  follows  that  water  or  steam,  as  well  as  rocky 
matter,  may  be  ejected  from  the  under-crust. 

(4)  The  interior  sub-crust  is  not  perfectly  homogeneous,  but 
may  be  roughly  divided  into  two  layers  or  magmas,  as  they 
have  been  called ;  an  upper,  highly  silicious  or  acidic,  of  low 
specific  gravity  and  light-coloured,  and  corresponding  to  such 
kinds  of  plutonic  and  volcanic  rocks  as  granite  and  trachyte  ; 
and   a  lower,  less  silicious  or  more  basic,  more  dense,  and 
more  highly  charged  with  iron,    and  corresponding  to  such 
igneous  rocks  as  the  dolerites,  basalts,  and  kindred  lavas.     It 
is  interesting  here  to  note  that  this  conclusion,  elaborated  by 
Durocher  and  Von  Waltershausen,  and  usually  connected  with 
their  names,  appears  to  have  been  first  announced  by  John 
Phillips,  in  his  "  Geological  Manual,"  and  as  a  mere  common- 
sense  deduction  from  the  observed  phenomena  of   volcanic 
action  and  the  probable  results  of  the  gradual  cooling  of  the 
earth.      It  receives  striking  confirmation  from  the    observed 
succession  of  acidic  and  basic  volcanic  rocks  of  all  geological 
periods  and  in  all  localities.     It  would  even  seem,  from  recent 
spectroscopic  investigations  of  Lockyer,  that  there  is  evidence 
of  a  similar  succession  of  magmas  in  the  heavenly  bodies,  and 
the  discovery  by  Nordenskiold  of  native  iron  in  Greenland 

1  Phil.  Trans.,    1884.     Also  Crosby  in  Proc.  Boston  Sac'.  Nat.  Hist. , 
1883. 

4* 


64          THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC 

basalts,  affords  a  probability  that  the  inner  magma  is  in  part 
metallic,  and  possibly,  that  vast  masses  of  unoxidised  metals 
exist  in  the  central  portion  of  the  earth. 

(5)  Where  rents  or  fissures  form  in  the  upper  crust,   the 
material  of  the  lower  crust  is  forced  upward  by  the  pressure 
of  the  less  supported  portions  of  the  former,  giving  rise  to 
volcanic  phenomena  either  of  an  explosive  or  quiet  character, 
as  may  be  determined  by  contact  with  water.     The  underlying 
material  may  also  be  carried  to  the  surface  by  the  agency  of 
heated  water,  producing  those  quiet  discharges  which  Hunt 
has  named  crenitic.     It  is  to  be  observed  here  that  explosive 
volcanic   phenomena,    and   the   formation   of  cones,  are,    as 
Prestwich   has   well  remarked,  characteristic  of  an    old    and 
thickened    crust ;    quiet    ejection    from   fissures   and   hydro- 
thermal  action  may  have  been  more  common  in  earlier  periods 
and  with   a   thinner   over-crust     This   is  an  important   con- 
sideration with  reference  to  those  earlier  ages  referred  to  in 
chapter  second. 

(6)  The  contraction  of  the  earth's  interior  by  cooling  and 
by  the  emission  of  material  from  below  the  over-crust,   has 
caused  this  crust  to  press  downward,  and  therefore  laterally, 
and  so  to  effect  great  bends,  folds,  and  plications  ;  and  these, 
modified  subsequently  by  surface  denudation,  and  the  piling 
of  sediments  on  portions  of  the  crust,  constitute  mountain 
chains  and  continental  plateaus.     As  Hall  long  ago  pointed 
out,1  such  lines  of  folding  have  been  produced  more  especially 
where  thick  sediments  had  been  laid  down  on  the  sea-bottom, 
and  where,  in  consequence,  internal  expansion  of  the  crust  had 
occurred  from  heating  below.     Thus  we  have  here  another 
apparent  paradox,  namely,  that  the  elevations  of  the  earth's 
crust  occur  in  the  places  where  the  greatest  burden   of  de- 

1  Hall  (American  Association  Address,  1857,  subsequently  republished, 
with  additions,  as  ''Contributions  to  the  Geological  History  of  the  American 
Continent "),  Mallet,  Rogers,  Dana,  La  Conte,  etc. 


THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC          65 

tritus  has  been  laid  down  upon  it,  and  where,  consequently,  the 
crust  has  been  softened  and  depressed.  We  must  beware,  in 
this  connection,  of  exaggerated  notions  of  the  extent  of  con- 
traction and  of  crumpling  required  to  form  mountains.  Bonney 
has  well  shown,  in  lectures  delivered  at  the  London  Institu- 
tion, that  an  amount  of  contraction,  almost  inappreciable  in 
comparison  with  the  diameter  of  the  earth,  would  be  sufficient ; 
and  that,  as  the  greatest  mountain  chains  are  less  than  -g^^th 
of  the  earth's  radius  in  height,  they  would,  on  an  artificial 
globe  a  foot  in  diameter,  be  no  more  important  than  the  slight 
inequalities  that  might  result  from  the  paper  gores  overlapping 
each  other  at  the  edges.  This  thinness  of  the  crushed  crust 
agrees  with  the  deductions  of  physical  science  as  to  the 
shallowness  of  the  superficial  layer  of  compression  in  a  cooling 
globe.  It  is  perhaps  not  more  than  five  miles  in  thickness. 
A  singular  proof  of  this  is  seen  by  the  extension  of  straight 
cracks  filled  with  volcanic  rock  in  the  Laurentian  districts  of 
Canada.1  The  beds  of  gneiss  and  associated  rocks  are  folded 
and  crumpled  in  a  most  complex  manner,  yet  they  are  crossed 
by  these  faults,  as  a  crack  in  a  board  may  tear  a  sheet  of 
paper  or  a  thin  veneer  glued  on  it.  We  thus  see  that  the 
crumpled  Laurentian  crust  was  very  thin,  while  the  uncrushed 
sub-crust  determined  the  line  of  fracture. 

(7)  The  crushing  and  sliding  of  the  over-crust  implied  in 
these  movements  raise  some  serious  questions  of  a  physical 
character.  One  of  these  relates  to  the  rapidity  or  slowness 
of  such  movements,  and  the  consequent  degree  of  intensity 
of  the  heat  developed,  as  a  possible  cause  of  metamorphism 
of  rocks.  Another  has  reference  to  the  possibility  of  changes 
in  the  equilibrium  of  the  earth  itself,  as  resulting  from  local 
collapse  and  ridging.  These  questions  in  connection  with  the 

1  As,  for  instance,  the  great  dyke  running  nearly  in  a  straight  line  from 
near  St.  Jerome  along  the  Ottawa  to  Templeton,  on  the  Ottawa,  and  be- 
yond, a  distance  of  more  than  a  hundred  miles. 


66          THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC 

present  dissociation  of  the  axis  of  rotation  from  the  magnetic 
poles,  and  with  changes  of  climate,  have  attracted  some  atten- 
tion,1 and  probably  deserve  further  consideration  on  the  part 
of  physicists.  In  so  far  as  geological  evidence  is  concerned, 
it  would  seem  that  the  general  association  of  crumpling  with 
metamorphism  indicates  a  certain  rapidity  in  the  process  of 
mountain-making,  and  consequent  development  of  heat ;  and 
the  arrangement  of  the  older  rocks  around  the  Arctic  basin  for- 
bids us  from  assuming  any  extensive  movement  of  the  axis  of 
rotation,  though  it  does  not  exclude  changes  to  a  limited  extent. 

(8)  It  appears  from  the  above  that  mountains  and  conti- 
nental elevations  may  be  of  three  kinds,  (a)  They  may  con- 
sist of  material  thrown  out  of  volcanic  rents,  like  earth  out  of 
a  mole  burrow.  Mountains  like  Vesuvius  and  ^Etna  are  of 
this  kind.  (3)  They  may  be  parts  of  wide  ridges  or  chains 
variously  cut  and  modified  by  rains  and  rivers.  The  Lebanon 
and  the  Catskill  Mountains  are  cases  in  point,  (c)  They  may 
be  lines  of  crumpling  by  lateral  pressure.  The  greatest  moun- 
tains, like  the  Cordillera,  the  Alps,  and  the  Appalachians  are  of 
this  kind,  and  such  mountains  may  represent  lateral  pressure 
occurring  at  various  times,  and  whose  results  have  been  greatly 
modified  subsequently. 

I  wish  to  formulate  these  principles  as  distinctly  as  possible, 
and  as  the  result  of  all  the  long  series  of  observations,  calcu- 
lations, and  discussions  since  the  time  of  Werner  and  Hutton, 
and  in  which  a  vast  number  of  able  physicists  and  naturalists 
have  borne  a  part,  because  they  may  be  considered  as  certain 
deductions  from  our  actual  knowledge,  and  because  they  lie 
at  the  foundation  of  a  rational  physical  geology. 

We  may  roughly  popularise  these  deductions  by  comparing 
the  earth  to  a  drupe  or  stone-fruit,  such  as  a  plum  or  peach 

1  See  recent  papers  of  Oldham  and  Fisher,  in  Geological  Magazine,  and 
Philosophical  Magazine,  July,  1886.  Also  Peroche,  "  Revol.  Polaires." 
Paris,  1886. 


THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC          67 

somewhat  dried  up.  It  has  a  large  and  intensely  hard  stone 
and  kernel,  a  thin  pulp  made  up  of  two  layers,  an  inner,  more 
dense  and  dark-coloured,  and  an  outer,  less  dense  and  lighter- 
coloured.  These  constitute  the  under-crust.  On  the  outside 
it  has  a  thin  membrane  or  over-crust.  In  the  process  of  drying 
it  has  slightly  shrunk,  so  as  to  produce  ridges  and  hollows  of 
the  outer  crust,  and  this  outer  crust  has  cracked  in  some  places, 
allowing  portions  of  the  pulp  to  ooze  out — in  some  of  them  its 
lower  dark  substance,  in  others,  its  upper  and  lighter  material. 
The  analogy  extends  no  farther,  for  there  is  nothing  in  our 
withered  fruit  to  represent  the  oceans  occupying  the  lower  parts 
of  the  surface,  or  the  deposits  which  they  have  laid  down. 

Here  a  most  important  feature  demands  attention.  The 
rain,  the  streams,  and  the  sea  are  constantly  cutting  down  the 
land  and  depositing  it  in  the  bed  of  the  waters.  Thus  weight 
is  taken  from  the  land,  and  added  to  the  sea  bed.  Geological 
facts,  such  as  the  great  thickness  of  the  coal  measures,  in  which 
we  find  thousands  of  feet  of  sediment,  all  of  which  must  have 
been  deposited  in  shallow  water,  and  the  accumulation  of 
hundreds  of  feet  of  superficial  material  in  deltas  at  the  mouth 
of  great  rivers,  show  that  the  crust  of  the  earth  is  so  mobile  as 
to  yield  downward  to  every  pressure,  however  slight.1  It  may 
do  this  slowly  and  gradually,  or  by  jumps  from  time  to  time ; 
and  this  yielding  necessarily  tends  to  squeeze  up  the  edges  of 
the  depressed  portions  into  ridges,  and  to  cause  lateral  move- 
ment and  ejection  of  volcanic  matter  at  intervals. 

Keeping  in  view  these  general  conclusions,  let  us  now  turn 
to  their  bearing  on  the  origin  and  history  of  the  North  Atlantic. 

Though  the  Atlantic  is  a  deep  ocean,  its  basin  does  not 
constitute  so  much  a  depression  of  the  crust  of  the  earth  as 
a  flattening  of  it,  and  this,  as  recent  soundings  have  shown, 
with  a  slight  ridge  or  elevation  along  its  middle,  and  banks  or 
terraces  fringing  the  edges,  so  that  its  form  is  not  so  much 
1  Starkie  Gardiner,  Nature,  December,  1889. 


68          THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC 

that  of  a  basin  as  that  of  a  shallow  elongated  plate  with  its 
middle  a  little  raised.  Its  true  margins  are  composed  of 
portions  of  the  over-crust  folded,  overlapped  and  crushed,  as 
if  by  lateral  pressure  emanating  from  the  sea  itself.  We  can- 
not, for  example,  look  at  a  geological  map  of  America  without 
perceiving  that  the  Appalachian  ridges,  which  intervene  be- 
ween  the  Atlantic  and  the  St.  Lawrence  valley,  have  been 
driven  bodily  back  by  a  force  acting  from  the  east,  and  that 
they  have  resisted  this  pressure  only  where,  as  in  the  Gulf  of 
St.  Lawrence  and  the  Catskill  region  of  New  York,  they  have 
been  protected  by  outlying  masses  of  very  old  rocks,  as,  for 
example,  by  that  of  the  island  of  Newfoundland  and  that  of 
the  Adirondack  Mountains.  The  admirable  work  begun  by 
my  friend  and  fellow-student,  Professor  James  Nicol,  followed 
up  by  Professor  Lapworth,  and  now,  after  long  controversy, 
fully  confirmed  by  the  recent  observations  of  the  Geological 
Survey  of  Scotland,  has  shown  the  most  intense  action  of  the 
same  kind  on  the  east  side  of  the  ocean  in  the  Scottish  high- 
lands ;  and  the  more  widely  distributed  Eozoic  and  other  old 
rocks  of  Scandinavia  may  be  appealed  to  in  further  evidence 
of  this.1 

If  we  now  inquire  as  to  the  cause  of  the  Atlantic  depres- 
sion, we  must  go  back  to  the  time  when  the  areas  occupied 
by  the  Atlantic  and  its  bounding  coasts  were  parts  of  the 
shoreless  sea  in  which  the  earliest  gneisses  or  stratified  granites 
of  the  Laurentian  age  were  being  laid  down  in  vastly  extended 
beds.  These  ancient  crystalline  rocks  have  been  the  subject 
of  much  discussion  and  controversy,  to  which  reference  has 
been  made  in  a  previous  chapter. 

It  will  be  observed,  in  regard  to  these  theories,  that  they  do 

1  Address  to  Geological  Section,  Brit.  Assoc.,  by  Prof.  Judd,  Aberdeen 
Meeting,  1885.  According  to  Rogers,  the  crumpling  of  the  Appalachians 
has  reduced  a  breadth  of  158  miles  to  about  60.  Geikie,  Address,  Geo- 
logical Society,  1891-2. 


THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC          69 

not  suppose  that  the  old  gneiss  is  an  ordinary  sediment,  but 
that  all  regard  it  as  formed  in  exceptional  circumstances,  these 
circumstances  being  the  absence  of  land  and  of  subaerial 
decay  of  rock,  and  the  presence  wholly  or  principally  of  the 
material  of  the  upper  surface  of  the  recently  hardened  crust. 
This  being  granted,  the  question  arises,  Ought  we  not  to  com- 
bine the  several  theories  as  to  the  origin  of  gneiss,  and  to 
believe  that  the  cooling  crust  has  hardened  in  successive  layers 
from  without  inward;  that  at  the  same  time  fissures  were 
locally  discharging  igneous  matter  to  the  surface ;  that  matter 
held  in  supension  in  the  ocean  and  matter  held  in  solution  by 
heated  waters  rising  from  beneath  the  outer  crust  were  ming- 
ling their  materials  in  the  deposits  of  the  primitive  ocean  ? l 
It  would  seem  that  the  combination  of  all  these  agencies  may 
safely  be  evoked  as  causes  of  the  pre-Atlantic  deposits.  This 
is  the  eclectic  position  I  have  maintained  in  a  previous  chap- 
ter, and  which  I  hold  to  be  in  every  way  the  most  probable. 

Let  us  suppose,  {hen,  the  floor  of  old  ocean  covered  with 
a  flat  pavement  of  gneiss,  or  of  that  material  which  is  now 
gneiss,  the  next  question  is,  How  and  when  did  this  original 
bed  become  converted  into  sea  and  land  ?  Here  we  have  some 
things  certain,  others  most  debateable.  That  the  cooling 
mass,  especially  if  it  was  sending  out  volumes  of  softened 
rocky  material,  either  in  the  form  of  volcanic  ejections  or  in 
that  of  matter  dissolved  in  heated  water,  and  piling  this  on  the 
surface,  must  soon  become  too  small  for  its  shell,  is  apparent ; 
but  when  and  where  would  the  collapse,  crushing  and  wrink- 
ling inevitable  from  this  cause  begin  ?  The  date  is  indi- 
cated by  the  lines  of  old  mountain  chains  which  traverse  the 
Laurentian  districts ;  but  the  reason  why  is  less  apparent. 
The  more  or  less  unequal  cooling,  hardening  and  conductive 
power  of  the  outer  crust  we  may  readily  assume.  The  driftage 
unequally  of  water-borne  detritus  to  the  south-west  by  the 
1  Hunt,  Transactions  Royal  Society  of  Canada,  1885. 


7O          THE   HISTORY   OF    THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC 

bottom  currents  of  the  sea  is  another  cause,  and,  as  we  shall 
soon  see,  most  effective.  Still  another  is  the  greater  cooling 
and  hardening  of  the  crust  in  the  polar  regions,  and  the  ten- 
dency to  collapse  of  the  equatorial  protuberance  from  the 
slackening  of  the  earth's  rotation.  Besides  these,  the  internal 
tides  of  the  earth's  substance  at  the  times  of  solstice  would 
exert  an  oblique  pulling  force  on  the  crust,  which  might  tend 
to  crack  it  along  diagonal  lines.  From  whichever  of  these 
causes,  or  the  combination  of  the  whole,  we  know  that,  within 
the  Laurentian  time,  folded  portions  of  the  earth's  crust  began 
to  rise  above  the  general  surface,  in  broad  belts  running  from 
north-east  to  south-west,  and  from  north-west  to  south-east, 
where  the  older  mountains  of  Eastern  America  and  Western 
Europe  now  stand,  and  that  the  subsidence  of  the  oceanic 
areas,  allowed  by  this  crumpling  of  the  crust,  permitted  other 
areas  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  to  form  limited  table-lands. 
This  was  the  commencement  of  a  process  repeated  again  and 
again  in  subsequent  times,  and  which  began  in  the  middle 
Laurentian,  when  for  the  first  time  we  find  beds  of  quartzite, 
limestone,  and  iron  ore,  and  graphite  beds,  indicating  that  there 
was  already  land  and  water,  and  that  the  sea,  and  perhaps  the 
land,  swarmed  with  forms  of  animal  and  plant  life,  unknown, 
for  the  most  part,  now.  Independently  of  the  questions  as  to 
the  animal  nature  of  Eozoon,  I  hold  that  we  know,  as  certainly 
as  we  can  know  anything  inferentially,  the  existence  of  these 
primitive  forms  of  life.  If  I  were  to  conjecture  what  were 
these  early  forms  of  plant  and  animal  life,  still  unknown  to  us 
by  actual  specimens,  I  would  suppose  that,  just  as  in  the  Palaeo- 
zoic, the  acrogens  culminated  in  gigantic  and  complex  forest 
trees,  so  in  the  Laurentian,  the  algae,  the  lichens,  and  the 
mosses  grew  to  dimensions  and  assumed  complexity  of  struc- 
ture unexampled  in  later  times,  and  that,  in  the  sea,  the 
humbler  forms  of  Protozoa  and  Sea  Mosses  were  the  dominant 
types,  but  in  gigantic  and  complex  forms.  The  land  of  this 


THE   HISTORY  OF  THE   NORTH  ATLANTIC         Jl 

period  was  probably  limited,  for  the  most  part,  to  high  lati- 
tudes, and  its  aspect,  though  more  rugged  and  abrupt,  and 
of  greater  elevation,  must  have  been  of  that  character  which 
we  still  see  in  the  Laurentian  hills.  The  distribution  of  this 
ancient  land  is  indicated  by  the  long  lines  01  old  Laurentian 
rock  extending  from  the  Labrador  coast  and  the  north  shore 
of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  along  the  eastern  slopes  of  the 
Appalachians  in  America,  and  the  like  rocks  of  the.  Hebrides, 
the  Western  Highlands,  and  the  Scandinavian  mountains.  A 
small  but  interesting  remnant  is  that  in  the  Malvern  Hills,  so 
well  described  by  Holl.  It  will  be  well  to  note  here,  and  to 
fix  on  our  minds,  that  these  ancient  ridges  of  Eastern  America 
and  Western  Europe  have  been  greatly  denuded  and  wasted 
since  Laurentian  times,  and  that  it  is  along  their  eastern  sides 
that  the  greatest  sedimentary  accumulations  have  been  de- 
posited. 

From  this  time  dates  the  introduction  of  that  dominance  of 
existing  causes  which  forms  the  basis  of  uniformitarianism  in 
geology,  and  which  had  to  go  on  with  various  and  great  modi- 
fications of  detail,  through  the  successive  stages  of  the  geolo- 
gical history,  till  the  land  and  water  of  the  northern  hemisphere 
attained  to  their  present  complex  structure. 

So  soon  as  we  have  a  circumpolar  belt  or  patches  of  Eozoic1 
land  and  ridges  running  southward  from  it,  we  enter  on  new 
and  more  complicated  methods  of  growth  of  the  continents 
and  seas.  Portions  of  the  oldest  crystalline  rocks,  raised  out 
of  the  protecting  water,  were  now  eroded  by  atmospheric 
agents,  and  especially  by  the  carbonic  acid,  then  existing  in  the 
atmosphere  perhaps  more  abundantly  than  at  present,  under 
whose  influence  the  hardest  of  the  gneissic  rocks  gradually 
decay.  The  arctic  lands  were  subjected,  in  addition,  to  the 
powerful  mechanical  force  of  frost  and  thaw.  Thus  every 
shower  of  rain  and  every  swollen  stream  would  carry  into  the 
1  Or  Archaean,  or  pre-Cambrian,  if  these  terms  are  preferred. 


72          THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC 

sea  the  products  of  the  waste  of  land,  sorting  them  into  fine 
clays  and  coarser  sands  ;  and  the  cold  currents  which  cling  to 
the  ocean  bottom,  now  determined  in  their  courses,  not  merely 
by  the  earth's  rotation,  but  also  by  the  lines  of  folding  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic,  would  carry  south-westward,  and  pile  up 
in  marginal  banks  of  great  thickness  the  debris  produced  from 
the  rapid  waste  of  the  land  already  existing  in  the  Arctic 
regions.  The  Atlantic,  opening  widely  to  the  north,  and 
having  large  rivers  pouring  into  it,  was,  especially,  the  ocean 
characterised,  as  time  advanced,  by  the  prevalence  of  these 
phenomena.  Thus,  throughout  the  geological  history  it  has 
happened  that,  while  the  middle  of  the  Atlantic  has  received 
merely  organic  deposits  of  shells  of  foraminifera  and  similar 
organisms,  and  this  probably  only  to  a  small  amount,  its 
margins  have  had  piled  upon  them  beds  of  detritus  of  im- 
mense thickness.  Professor  Hall,  of  Albany,  was  the  first 
geologist  who  pointed  out  the  vast  cosmic  importance  of  these 
deposits,  and  that  the  mountains  of  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic 
owe  their  origin  to  these  great  lines  of  deposition,  along  with 
the  fact,  afterwards  more  fully  insisted  on  by  Rogers,  that  the 
portions  of  the  crust  which  received  these  masses  of  debris 
became  thereby  weighted  down  and  softened,  and  were  more 
liable  than  other  parts  to  lateral  crushing. 

Thus,  in  the  later  Eozoic  and  early  Palaeozoic  times,  which 
succeeded  the  first  foldings  of  the  oldest  Laurentian,  great 
ridges  were  thrown  up,  along  the  edges  of  which  were  beds  of 
limestone,  and  on  their  summits  and  sides,  thick  masses  of 
ejected  igneous  rocks.  In  the  bed  of  the  central  Atlantic 
there  are  no  such  accumulations.  It  must  have  been  a  flat,  or 
slightly  ridged,  plate  of  the  ancient  gneiss,  hard  and  resisting, 
though  perhaps  with  a  few  cracks,  through  which  igneous  mat- 
ter welled  up,  as  in  Iceland  and  the  Azores  in  more  modern 
times.  In  this  condition  of  things  we  have  causes  tending  to 
perpetuate  and  extend  the  distinctions  of  ocean  and  continent, 


THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC          73 

mountain  and  plain,  already  begun  ;  and  of  these  we  may  more 
especially  note  the  continued  subsidence  of  the  areas  of 
greatest  marine  deposition.  This  has  long  attracted  attention, 
and  affords  very  convincing  evidence  of  the  connection  of  sedi- 
mentary deposit  as  a  cause  with  the  subsidence  of  the  crust.1 

We  are  indebted  to  a  French  physicist,  M.  Faye,  for  an  impor- 
tant suggestion  on  this  subject.  It  is  that  the  sediment  accu- 
mulated along  the  shores  of  the  ocean  presented  an  obstacle 
to  radiation,  and  consequently  to  cooling  of  the  crust,  while 
the  ocean  floor,  unprotected  and  unweighted,  and  constantly 
bathed  with  currents  of  cold  water  having  great  power  of  con- 
vection of  heat,  would  be  more  rapidly  cooled,  and  so  would 
become  thicker  and  stronger.  This  suggestion  is  complemen- 
tary to  the  theory  of  Professor  Hall,  that  the  areas  of  greatest 
deposit  on  the  margins  of  the  ocean  are  necessarily  those  of 
greatest  folding  and  consequent  elevation.  We  have  thus  a 
hard,  thick,  resisting  ocean  bottom,  which,  as  it  settles  down  to- 
ward the  interior,  under  the  influence  of  gravity,  squeezes 
upwards  and  folds  and  plicates  all  the  soft  sediments  deposited 
on  its  edges.  The  Atlantic  area  is  almost  an  unbroken  cake 
of  this  kind.  The  Pacific  area  has  cracked  in  many  places, 
allowing  the  interior  fluid  matter  to  exude  in  volcanic  ejec- 
tions. 

It  may  be  said  that  all  this  supposes  a  permanent  continu- 
ance of  the  ocean  basins,  whereas  many  geologists  postulate  a 
mid-Atlantic  continent  to  give  the  thick  masses  of  detritus 
found  in  the  older  formations  both  in  Eastern  America  and 
Western  Europe,  and  which  thin  off  in  proceeding  into  the 

1  Dutton  in  Report  of  U.S.  Geological  Survey,  1891.  From  facts  stated 
in  this  report  and  in  my  "Acadian  Geology,"  it  is  apparent  that  in  the 
Western  States  and  in  the  coalfields  of  Novia  Scotia,  shallow-water  deposits 
have  been  laid  down,  up  to  thicknesses  of  10,000  to  20,000  feet  in  connection 
with  continuous  subsidence.  See  also  a  paper  by  Ricketts  in  the  Geol. 
Mag.,  1883. 


74          THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC 

interior  of  both  continents.  I  prefer,  as  already  stated,  to 
consider  these  belts  of  sediment  as  the  deposits  of  north- 
ern currents,  and  derived  from  arctic  land,  and  that,  like  the 
great  banks  off  the  American  coast  at  the  present  day,  which 
are  being  built  up  by  the  present  arctic  current,  they  had  little 
to  do  with  any  direct  drainage  from  the  adjacent  shore.  We 
need  not  deny,  however,  that  such  ridges  of  land  as  existed 
along  the  Atlantic  margins  were  contributing  their  quota  of 
river-borne  material,  just  as  on  a  still  greater  scale  the  Amazon 
and  Mississippi  are  doing  now,  and  this  especially  on  the  sides 
toward  the  present  continental  plateaus,  though  the  greater 
part  must  have  been  derived  from  the  wide  tracts  of  Lauren- 
tian  land  within  the  Arctic  Circle,  or  near  to  it.  It  is  further 
obvious  that  the  ordinary  reasoning  respecting  the  necessity  of 
continental  areas  in  the  present  ocean  basins  would  actually 
oblige  us  to  suppose  that  the  whole  of  the  oceans  and  conti- 
nents had  repeatedly  changed  places.  This  consideration  op- 
poses enormous  physical  difficulties  to  any  theory  of  alterna- 
tions of  the  oceanic  and  continental  areas,  except  locally  at  their 
margins. 

But  the  permanence  of  the  Atlantic  depression  does  not  ex- 
clude the  idea  of  successive  submergences  of  the  continental 
plateaus  and  marginal  slopes,  alternating  with  periods  of  eleva- 
tion, when  the  ocean  retreated  from  the  continents  and  con- 
tracted its  limits.  In  this  respect  the  Atlantic  of  to-day  is 
much  smaller  than  it  was  in  those  times-  when  it  spread  widely 
over  the  continental  plains  and  slopes,  and  much  larger  than  it 
has  been  in  times  of  continental  elevation.  This  leads  us  to 
the  further  consideration  that,  while  the  ocean  beds  have  been 
sinking,  other  areas  have  been  better  supported,  and  constitute 
the  continental  plateaus  j  and  that  it  has  been  at  or  near  the 
junctions  of  these  sinking  and  rising  areas  that  the  thickest  de- 
posits of  detritus,  the  most  extensive  foldings,  and  the  greatest 
ejections  of  volcanic  matter  have  occurred.  There  has  thus 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  NORTH  ATLANTIC          75 

been  a  permanence  of  the  position  of  the  continents  and  oceans 
throughout  geological  time,  but  with  many  oscillations  of  these 
areas,  producing  submergences  and  emergences  of  the  land. 
In  this  way  we  can  reconcile  the  vast  vicissitudes  of  the  conti- 
nental areas  in  different  geological  periods  with  that  continuity 
of  development  from  north  to  south,  and  from  the  interiors 
to  the  margins,  which  is  so  marked  a  feature.  We  have,  for 
this  reason,  to  formulate  another  apparent  geological  paradox, 
namely,  that  while,  in  one  sense,  the  continental  and  oceanic 
areas  are  permanent,  in  another,  they  have  been  in  continual 
movement.  Nor  does  this  view  exclude  extension  of  the  con- 
tinental borders  or  of  chains  of  islands  beyond  their  present 
limits,  at  certain  periods;  and  indeed,  the  general  principle 
already  stated,  that  subsidence  of  the  ocean  bed  has  produced 
elevation  of  the  land,  implies  in  earlier  periods  a  shallower 
ocean  and  many  possibilities  as  to  volcanic  islands,  and  low 
continental  margins  creeping  out  into  the  sea ;  while  it  is  also 
to  be  noted  that  there  are,  as  already  stated,  bordering  shelves, 
constituting  shallows  in  the  ocean,  which  at  certain  periods 
have  emerged  as  land. 

We  are  thus  compelled,  as  already  stated,  to  believe  in  the 
contemporaneous  existence  in  all  geological  periods,  except 
perhaps  the  earliest  of  them,  of  the  three  distinct  conditions  of 
areas  on  the  surface  of  the  earth,  defined  in  chapter  second — 
oceanic  areas  of  deep  sea,  continental  plateaus  and  marginal 
shelves,  and  lines  of  plication  and  folding. 

In  the  successive  geological  periods  the  continental  pla- 
teaus, when  submerged,  owing  to  their  vast  extent  of  warm  and 
shallow  sea,  have  been  the  great  theatres  of  the  development  of 
marine  life  and  of  the  deposition  of  organic  limestones,  and 
when  elevated,  they  have  furnished  the  abodes  of  the  noblest 
land  faunas  and  floras.  The  mountain  belts,  especially  in 
the  north,  have  been  the  refuge  and  stronghold  of  land  life 
in  periods  of  submergence ;  and  the  deep  ocean  basins  have 


76          THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC 

been  the  perennial  abodes  of  pelagic  and  abyssal  creatures  and 
the  refuge  of  multitudes  of  other  marine  animals  and  plants 
in  times  of  continental  elevation.  These  general  facts  are  full 
of  importance  with  reference  to  the  question  of  the  succession 
of  formations  and  of  life  in  the  geological  history  of  the  earth. 

So  much  space  has  been  occupied  with  these  general  views, 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  trace  the  history  of  the  Atlantic 
in  detail  through  the  ages  of  the  Palseozoic,  Mesozoic,  and 
Tertiary.  We  may,  however,  shortly  glance  at  the  changes 
of  the  three  kinds  of  surface  already  referred  to.  The  bed  of 
the  ocean  seems  to  have  remained,  on  the  whole,  abyssal ;  but 
there  were  probably  periods  when  those  shallow  reaches  of  the 
Atlantic  which  stretch  across  its  most  northern  portion,  and 
partly  separate  it  from  the  Arctic  basin,  presented  connecting 
coasts  or  continuous  chains  of  islands  sufficient  to  permit 
animals  and  plants  to  pass  over.1  At  certain  periods  also  there 
were,  not  unlikely,  groups  of  volcanic  islands,  like  the  Azores, 
in  the  temperate  or  tropical  Atlantic.  More  especially  might 
this  be  the  case  in  that  early  time  when  it  was  more  like  the 
present  Pacific ;  and  the  line  of  the  great  volcanic  belt  of  the 
Mediterranean,  the  mid-Atlantic  banks,  the  Azores  and  the 
West  India  Islands  point  to  the  possibility  of  such  partial  con- 
nections. These  were  stepping  stones,  so  to  speak,  over  which 
land  organisms  might  cross,  and  some  of  these  may  be  con- 
nected with  the  fabulous  or  pre-historic  Atlantis. 

In  the  Palaeozoic  period,  the  distinctions  already  referred  to. 
into  continental  plateaus,  mountain  ridges,  and  ocean  depths, 
were  first  developed,  and  we  find,  already,  great  masses  of  sedi- 
ment accumulating  on  the  seaward  sides  of  the  old  Laurentian 
ridges,  and  internal  deposits  thinning  away  from  these  ridges 
over  the  submerged  continental  areas,  and  presenting  dissimilar 

1  It  would  seem,  from  Geikie's  description  of  the  Faroe  Islands,  that 
they  may  be  a  remnant  of  such  connecting  land,  dating  from  the  Cretaceous 
or  Eocene  period. 


THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH    ATLANTIC          77 

conditions  of  sedimentation.  It  would  seem  also  that,  as  Hicks 
has  argued  for  Europe,  and  Logan  and  Hall  for  America,  this 
Cambrian  age  was  one  of  slow  subsidence  of  the  land  previously 
elevated,  accompanied  with  or  caused  by  thick  deposits  of 
detritus  along  the  borders  of  the  subsiding  shore,  which  was 
probably  covered  with  the  decomposing  rock  arising  from  long 
ages  of  subaerial  waste. 

In  the  coal  formation  age  its  characteristic  swampy  flats 
stretched  in  some  places  far  into  the  shallower  parts  of  the 
ocean.1  In  the  Permian,  the  great  plicated  mountain  margins 
were  fully  developed  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  In  the 
Jurassic,  the  American  continent  probably  extended  farther  to 
the  sea  than  at  present.  In  the  Wealden  age  there  was  much 
land  to  the  west  and  north  of  Great  Britain,  and  Professor 
Bonney  has  directed  attention  to  the  evidence  of  the  existence 
of  this  land  as  far  back  as  the  Trias,  while  Mr.  Starkie  Gardiner 
has  insisted  on  connecting  links  to  the  southward,  as  evidenced 
by  fossil  plants.  So  late  as  the  Post-glacial,  or  early  human 
period,  large  tracts,  now  submerged,  formed  portions  of  the 
continents.  On  the  other  hand,  the  interior  plains  of  America 
and  Europe  were  often  submerged.  Such  submergences  are 
indicated  by  the  great  limestones  of  the  Palaeozoic,  by  the  chalk 
and  its  representative  beds  in  the  Cretaceous,  by  the  Num- 
mulitic  formation  in  the  Eocene,  and  lastly,  by  the  great  Pleis- 
tocene submergence,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  all,  one 
in  which  nearly  the  whole  northern  hemisphere  participated, 
and  which  was  probably  separated  from  the  present  time  by 
only  a  few  thousands  of  years.3  These  submergences  and  ele- 

1  I  have  shown  the  evidence  of  this  in  the  remnants  of  Carboniferous 
districts  once  more  extensive  on  the  Atlantic  coast  of  Nova  Scotia  and  Cape 
Breton  ("Acadian  Geology  "). 

8  The  recent  surveys  of  the  Falls  of  Niagara  coincide  with  a  great  many 
evidences  to  which  I  have  elsewhere  referred  in  proving  that  the  Pleistocene 
submergence  of  America  and  Europe  came  to  an  end  not  more  than  ten 


78          THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC 

vations  were  not  always  alike  on  the  two  sides  of  the  Atlantic. 
The  Salina  period  of  the  Silurian,  for  example,  and  the  Jurassic, 
show  continental  elevation  in  America  not  shared  by  Europe. 
The  great  subsidences  of  the  Cretaceous  and  the  Eocene  were 
proportionally  deeper  and  wider  on  the  eastern  continent,  and 
this  and  the  direction  of  the  land  being  from  north  to  south, 
cause  more  ancient  forms  of  life  to  survive  in  America.  These 
elevations  and  submergences  of  the  plateaus  alternated  with 
the  periods  of  mountain-making  plication,  which  was  going  on 
at  intervals,  at  the  close  of  the  Eozoic,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Cambrian,  at  the  close  of  the  Siluro-Cambrian,  in  the  Permian, 
and  in  Europe  and  Western  America  in  the  Tertiary.  The 
series  of  changes,  however,  affecting  all  these  areas  was  of  a 
highly  complex  character  in  detail.1 

We  may  also  note  a  fact  which  I  have  long  agq  insisted  on,1 
the  regular  pulsation  of  the  continental  areas,  giving  us  alter- 
nations in  each  great  system  of  deep-sea  and  shallow-water 
beds,  so  that  the  successive  groups  of  formations  may  be  di- 
vided into  triplets  of  shallow-water,  deep-water,  and  shallow- 
water  strata,  alternating  in  each  period.  This  law  of  succession 
applies  more  particularly  to  the  formations  of  the  continental 
plateaus,  rather  than  to  those  of  the  ocean  margins,  and  it 
shows  that,  intervening  between  the  great  movements  of  plica- 
tion there  were  subsidences  of  those  plateaus,  or  elevations  of 
the  sea  bottom,  which  allowed  the  waters  to  spread  themselves 
over  all  the  inland  spaces  between  the  great  folded  mountain 
ranges  of  the  Atlantic  borders. 

In  referring  to  the  ocean  basins  we  should  bear  in  mind 
that  there  are  three  of  these  in  the  northern  hemisphere — the 
Arctic,  the  Pacific,  and  the  Atlantic.  De  Ranee  has  ably 

thousand  years  ago,  and  was  itself  not  of  very  great  duration.  Thus  in 
Pleistocene  times  the  land  must  have  been  submerged  and  re-elevated  in  a 
very  rapid  manner. 

1  "  Acadian  Geology." 


THE-  HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH    ATLANTIC          79 

summed  up  the  known  facts  as  to  Arctic  geology  in  a  series  of 
articles  in  Nature,  from  which  it  appears  that  this  area  pre- 
sents from  without  inwards  a  succession  of  older  and  newer 
formations  from  the  Eozoic  to  the  Tertiary,  and  that  its  extent 
must  have  been  greater  in  former  periods  than  at  present, 
while  it  must  have  enjoyed  a  comparatively  warm  climate  from 
the  Cambrian  to  the  Pleistocene  period.  The  relations  of  its 
deposits  and  fossils  are  closer  with  those  of  the  Atlantic  than 
with  those  of  the  Pacific,  as  might  be  anticipated  from  its  wider 
opening  into  the  former.  Blandford  has  recently  remarked  on 
the  correspondence  of  the  marginal  deposits  around  the  Pacific 
and  Indian  oceans,1  and  Dr.  Dawson  informs  me  that  this  is 
equally  marked  in  comparison  with  the  west  coast  of  America, 
but  these  marginal  areas  have  not  yet  gained  much  on  the 
ocean.  In  the  North  Atlantic,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  a 
wide  belt  of  comparatively  modern  rocks  on  both  sides,  more 
especially  toward  the  south  and  on  the  American  side ;  but 
while  there  appears  to  be  a  perfect  correspondence  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic,  and  around  the  Pacific  respectively,  there 
seems  to  be  less  parallelism  between  the  deposits  and  forms  of 
life  of  the  two  oceans,  as  compared  with  each  other,  and  less 
correspondence  in  forms  of  life,  especially  in  modern  times. 
Still,  in  the  earlier  geological  ages,  as  might  have  been  antici- 
pated from  the  imperfect  development  of  the  continents,  the 
same  forms  of  life  characterise  the  whole  ocean  from  Australia 
to  Arctic  America,  and  indicate  a  grand  unity  of  Pacific  and 


1  Journal  of  Geological  Society.,  May,  1886.  Blandford's  statements  re- 
specting the  mechanical  deposits  of  the  close  of  the  Palaeozoic  in  the  Indian 
Ocean,  whether  these  are  glacial  or  not,  would  seem  to  show  a  correspond- 
ence with  the  Permian  conglomerates  and  earth  movements  of  the  Atlan- 
tic area ;  but  since  that  time  the  Atlantic  has  enjoyed  comparative  repose. 
The  Pacific  seems  to  have  reproduced  the  conditions  of  the  Carboniferous 
in  the  Cretaceous  age,  and  seems  to  have  been  less  affected  by  the  great 
changes  of  the  Pleistocene. 

5 


80          THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC 

Atlantic  life  not  equalled  in  later  times,1  and  which  speaks  of 
true  contemporaneity  rather  than  of  what  has  been  termed 
homotaxis  or  mere  likeness  of  orders. 

We  may  pause  here  for  a  moment  to  notice  some  of  the 
effects  of  Atlantic  growth  on  modern  geography.  It  has 
given  us  rugged  and  broken  shores,  composed  of  old  rocks 
in  the  north,  and  newer  formations  and  softer  features  to- 
ward the  south.  It  has  given  us  marginal  mountain  ridges 
and  internal  plateaus  on  both  sides  of  the  sea.  It  has  pro- 
duced certain  curious  and  by  no  means  accidental  corre- 
spondences of  the  eastern  and  western  sides.  Thus  the  solid 
basis  on  which  the  British  Islands  stand  may  be  compared 
with  Newfoundland  and  Labrador,  the  English  Channel  with 
the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  the  Bay  of  Biscay  with  the  Bay  of 
Maine,  Spain  with  the  projection  of  the  American  land  at 
Cape  Hatteras,  the  Mediterranean  with  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
The  special  conditions  of  deposition  and  plication  necessary 
to  these  results,  and  their  bearing  on  the  character  and  pro- 
ductions of  the  Atlantic  basin,  would  require  a  volume  for 
their  detailed  elucidation. 

Thus  far  our  discussion  has  been  limited  almost  entirely  to 
physical  causes  and  effects.  If  we  now  turn  to  the  life 
history  of  the  Atlantic,  we  are  met  at  the  threshold  with  the 
question  of  climate,  not  as  a  thing  fixed  and  immutable,  but 
as  changing  from  age  to  age  in  harmony  with  geographical 
mutations,  and  producing  long  cosmic  summers  and  winters  of 
alternate  warmth  and  refrigeration. 

We  can  scarcely  doubt  that  the  close  connection  of  the 
Atlantic  and  Arctic  oceans  is  one  factor  in  those  remarkable 
vicissitudes  of  climate  experienced  by  the  former,  and  in 
which  the  Pacific  area  has  also  shared  in  connection  with  the 

1  Daintreeand  Etheridge,  "  Queensland  Geology, "Journal  Geological 
Society,  August,  1872  ;  R.  Etheridge,  Junior,  "Australian  Fossils,"  Trans. 
Phys.  ^..Edin.,  1880. 


THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC          8 1 

Antarctic  Sea.  No  geological  facts  are  indeed  at  first  sight 
more  strange  and  inexplicable  than  the  changes  of  climate  in 
the  Atlantic  area,  even  in  comparatively  modern  periods.  We 
know  that  in  the  early  Tertiary  temperate  conditions  reigned  as 
far  north  as  the  middle  of  Greenland,  and  that  in  the  Pleisto- 
cene the  Arctic  cold  advanced  until  an  almost  perennial  winter 
prevailed  half  way  to  the  equator.  It  is  no  wonder  that  nearly 
every  cause  available  in  the  heavens  and  the  earth  has  been 
invoked  to  account  for  these  astounding  facts.  I  shall,  I  trust, 
be  excused  if,  neglecting  most  of  these  theoretical  views,  I 
venture  to  invite  attention,  in  connection  with  this  question, 
chiefly  to  the  old  Lyellian  doctrine  of  the  modification  of 
climate  by  geographical  changes.  Let  us,  at  least,  consider 
how  much  these  are  able  to  account  for. 

The  ocean  is  a  great  equalizer  of  extremes  of  temperature. 
It  does  this  by  its  great  capacity  for  heat,  and  by  its  cooling 
and  heating  power  when  passing  from  the  solid  into  the 
liquid  and  gaseous  states,  and  the  reverse.  It  also  acts  by  its 
mobility,  its  currents  serving  to  convey  heat  to  great  distances, 
or  to  cool  the  air  by  the  movement  of  cold  icy  waters.  Thfi 
land,  on  the  other  hand,  cools  or  warms  rapidly,  and  can 
transmit  its  influence  to  a  distance  only  by  the  winds,  and  the 
influence  so  transmitted  is  rather  in  the  nature  of  a  disturbing 
than  of  an  equalizing  cause.  It  follows  that  any  change  in  the 
distribution  of  land  and  water  must  affect  climate,  more  espe- 
cially if  it  changes  the  character  or  course  of  the  ocean  currents. 

Turning  to  the  Atlantic,  in  this  connection  we  perceive  that 
its  present  condition  is  peculiar  and  exceptional.  On  the  one 
hand  it  is  widely  open  to  the  Arctic  Sea  and  the  influence  of 
its  cold  currents,  and  on  the  other  it  is  supplied  with  a  heating 
apparatus  of  enormous  power  to  give  a  special  elevation  of 
temperature,  more  particularly  to  its  eastern  coasts.  The  great 
equatorial  current  running  across  from  Africa  is  on  its 
northern  side  embayed  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  as  in  a  great 


82          THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC 

cauldron,  and  pouring  through  the  mouth  of  this  in  the 
Bahama  channel,  forms  the  gulf  stream,  which,  widening  out  like 
a  fan,  forms  a  vast  expanse  of  warm  water,  from  which  the  pre- 
vailing westerly  winds  of  the  North  Atlantic  waft  a  constant 
supply  of  heated  moist  air  to  the  western  coasts  of  Europe, 
giving  them  a  much  more  warm  and  uniform  climate  than  that 
which  prevails  in  similar  latitudes  in  Eastern  America,  where 
the  cold  Arctic  currents  hug  the  shore,  and  bring  down  ice  from 
Baffin's  Bay.  Now  all  this  might  be  differently  arranged.  We 
shall  find  that  there  were  times,  when  the  Isthmus  of  Panama 
being  broken  through,  there  was  no  Gulf  Stream,  and  Norway 
and  England  were  reduced  to  the  conditions  of  Greenland 
and  Labrador,  and  when  refrigeration  was  still  further  increased 
by  subsidence  of  northern  lands  affording  freer  sweep  to  the 
Arctic  currents.  On  the  other  hand,  there  were  times  when 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  extended  much  farther  north  than  at 
present,  and  formed  an  additional  surface  of  warm  water  to 
heat  all  the  interior  of  America,  as  well  as  the  Atlantic.  Geo- 
graphical changes  of  these  kinds,  have  probably  given  us  the 
glacial  period  in  very  recent  times,  and  at  an  earlier  era  those 
warm  climates  which  permitted  temperate  vegetation  to  flourish 
as  far  north  as  Greenland.  These  are,  however,  great  topics, 
which  must  form  the  subject  of  other  chapters. 

I  am  old  enough  to  remember  the  sensation  caused  by  the 
delightful  revelations  of  Edward  Forbes  respecting  the  zones 
of  animal  life  in  the  sea,  and  the  vast  insight  which  they  gave 
into  the  significance  of  the  work  on  minute  organisms  pre- 
viously done  by  Ehrenberg,  Lonsdale  and  Williamson,  and 
into  the  meaning  of  fossil  remains.  A  little  later  the  sound- 
ings for  the  Atlantic  cable  revealed  the  chalky  foraminiferal 
ooze  of  the  abyssal  ocean.  Still  more  recently,  the  wealth  of 
facts  disclosed  by  the  Challenger  voyage,  which  naturalists 
have  scarcely  yet  had  time  to  digest,  have  opened  up  to  us 
new  worlds  of  deep-sea  life. 


THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC  83 

The  bed  of  the  deep  Atlantic  is  covered,  for  the  most  part, 
by  a  mud  or  ooze,  largely  made  up  of  the  debris  of  foramini- 
fera  and  other  minute  organisms  mixed  with  fine  clay.  In  the 
North  Atlantic  the  Norwegian  naturalists  call  this  the  Biloculina 
mud.  Farther  south,  the  Challenger  naturalists  speak  of  it  as 
Globigerina  ooze.  In  point  of  fact  it  contains  different  species 
of  foraminiferal  shells,  Globigerina  and  Orbulina  being  in  some 
localities  dominant,  and  in  others,  other  species ;  and  these 
changes  are  more  apparent  in  the  shallower  portions  of  the 
ocean. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  means  for  disseminating 
coarse  material  over  parts  of  the  ocean  beds.  There  are,  in 
the  line  of  the  Arctic  current,  on  the  American  coast,  great 
sand  banks,  and  off  the  coast  of  Norway,  sand  constitutes  a 
considerable  part  of  the  bottom  material.  Soundings  and 
dredgings  off  Great  Britain,  and  also  off  the  American  coast, 
have  shown  that  fragments  of  stone  referable  to  Arctic  lands 
are  abundantly  strewn  over  the  bottom,  along  certain  lines, 
and  the  Antarctic  continent,  otherwise  almost  unknown,  makes 
its  presence  felt  to  the  dredge  by  the  abundant  masses  of 
crystalline  rock  drifted  far  from  it  to  the  north.  These  are  not 
altogether  new  discoveries.  I  had  inferred,  many  years  ago, 
from  stones  taken  up  by  the  hooks  of  fishermen  on  the  banks 
of  Newfoundland,  that  rocky  material  from  the  north  is  dropped 
on  these  banks  by  the  heavy  ice  which  drifts  over  them  every 
spring,  that  these  are  glaciated,  and  that  after  they  fall  to  the 
bottom  sand  is  drifted  over  them  with  sufficient  velocity  to 
polish  the  stones,  and  to  erode  the  shelly  coverings  of  Arctic 
animals  attached  to  them.1  If,  then,  the  Atlantic  basin  were 
upheaved  into  land,  we  should  see  beds  of  sand,  gravel  and 
boulders  with  clay  flats  and  layers  of  marl  and  limestone. 
According  to  the  Challenger  reports,  in  the  Antarctic  seas  S. 
of  64°  there  is  blue  mud,  with  fragments  of  rock,  in  depths 
1  "Notes  on  Post-Pliocine  of  Canada,"  1872. 


84          THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC 

of  1,200  to  2,000  fathoms.  The  stones,  some  of  them  glaci- 
ated, were  granite,  diorite,  amphibolite,  mica  schist,  gneiss  and 
quartzite.  This  deposit  ceases  and  gives  place  to  Globigerina 
ooze  and  red  clay  at  46°  to  47°  S.,  but  even  farther  north  there 
is  sometimes  as  much  as  49  per  cent,  of  crystalline  sand.  In 
the  Labrador  current  a  block  of-  syenite,  weighing  400  Ibs.,  was 
taken  up  from  1,340  fathoms,  and  in  the  Arctic  current,  100 
miles  from  land,  was  a  stony  deposit,  some  stones  being 
glaciated.  Among  these  were  smoky  quartz,  quartzite,  lime- 
stone, dolomite,  mica  schist,  and  serpentine ;  also  particles  of 
monoclinic  and  triclinic  felspar,  hornblende,  augite,  magnetite, 
mica  and  glauconite,  the  latter,  no  doubt,  formed  in  the  sea 
bottom,  the  others  drifted  from  Eozoic  and  Palaeozoic  forma- 
tions to  the  north.1 

A  remarkable  fact  in  this  connection  is  that  the  great  depths 
of  the  sea  are  as  impassable  to  the  majority  of  marine  animals 
as  the  land  itself.  According  to  Murray,  while  twelve  of  the 
Challenger's  dredgings,  taken  in  depths  greater  than  2,000 
fathoms,  gave  92  species,  mostly  new  to  science,  a  similar 
number  of  dredgings  in  shallower  water  near  the  land,  give  no 
less  than  1,000  species.  Hence  arises  another  apparent  para- 
dox relating  to  the  distribution  of  organic  beings.  While  at 
first  sight  it  might  seem  that  the  chances  of  wide  distribution 
are  exceptionally  great  for  marine  species,  this  is  not  so.  Ex- 
cept in  the  case  of  those  which  enjoy  a  period  of  free  locomo- 
tion when  young,  or  are  floating  and  pelagic,  the  deep  ocean 
sets  bounds  to  their  migrations.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
spores  of  cryptogamic  plants  may  be  carried  for  vast  distances 
by  the  wind,  and  the  growth  of  volcanic  islands  may  effect 
connections  which,  though  only  temporary,  may  afford  oppor- 
tunity for  land  animals  and  plants  to  pass  over. 

With  reference  to  the  transmission  of  living  beings  across 
the  Atlantic,  we  have  before  us  the  remarkable  fact  that  from 
1  General  Report,  "  Challenger  "  Expedition. 


THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC          85 

the  Cambrian  age  onwards  there  were,  on  the  two  sides  of  the 
ocean,  many  species  of  invertebrate  animals  which  were  either 
identical  or  so  closely  allied  as  to  be  possibly  varietal  forms,  in- 
dicating probably  the  shallowness  of  the  ocean  in  these  periods. 
In  like  manner,  the  early  plants  of  the  Upper  Silurian,  Devo- 
nian, and  Carboniferous  present  many  identical  species ;  but 
this  identity  is  less  marked  in  more  modern  times.  Even  in 
the  latter,  however,  there  are  remarkable  connections  between 
the  floras  of  oceanic  islands  and  the  continents.  Thus  the 
Bermudas,  altogether  recent  islands,  have  been  stocked  by 
the  agency  chiefly  of  the  ocean  currents  and  of  birds,  with 
nearly  150  species  of  continental  plants;  and  the  facts  col- 
lected by  Helmsley  as  to  the  present  facilities  of  transmission, 
along  with  the  evidence  afforded  by  older  oceanic  islands 
which  have  been  receiving  animal  and  vegetable  colonists 
for  longer  periods,  go  far  to  show  that,  time  being  given, 
the  sea  actually  affords  facilities  for  the  migration  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  land,  comparable  with  those  of  continuous 
continents. 

In  so  far  as  plants  are  concerned,  it  is  to  be  observed  that 
the  early  forests  were  largely  composed  of  cryptogamous 
plants,  and  the  spores  of  these  in  modern  times  have  proved 
capable  of  transmission  from  great  distances.  In  considering 
this,  we  cannot  fail  to  conclude,  that  the  union  of  simple  cryp- 
togamous fructification  with  arboreal  stems  of  high  complexity, 
so  well  illustrated  by  Dr.  Williamson,  had  a  direct  relation  to 
the  necessity  for  a  rapid  and  wide  distribution  of  these  ancient 
trees.  It  seems  also  certain  that  some  spores,  as,  for  example, 
those  of  the  Rhizocarps,1  a  type  of  vegetation  abundant  in 
the  Palaeozoic,  and  certain  kinds  of  seeds,  as  those  named 
AZthoetesta  and  Pachytheca,  were  fitted  for  flotation.  Further, 
the  periods  of  Arctic  warmth  permitted  the  passage  around 

1  See  paper  by  the  author  on  Palaeozoic  Rhizocarps,  Chicago  Trans., 
1886. 


86          THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC 

the  northern  belt  of  many  temperate  species  of  plants,  just  as 
now  happens  with  the  Arctic  flora ;  and  when  these  were  dis- 
placed by  colder  periods,  they  marched  southward  along  both 
sides  of  the  sea  on  the  mountain  chains. 

The  same  remark  applies  to  northern  forms  of  marine  inver- 
tebrates, which  are  much  more  widely  distributed  in  longitude 
than  those  farther  south.  The  late  Mr.  Gywn  Jeffreys,  in  one 
of  his  latest  communications  on  this  subject,  stated  that  54 
per  cent,  of  the  shallow-water  mollusks  of  New  England  and 
Canada  are  also  European,  and  of  the  deep-sea  forms,  30  out 
of  35  ;  these  last,  of  course,  enjoying  greater  facilities  for 
migration  than  those  which  have  to  travel  slowly  along  the 
shallows  of  the  coast  in  order  to  cross  the  ocean  and  settle 
themselves  on  both  sides.  Many  of  these  animals,  like  the 
common  mussel  and  sand  clam,  are  old  settlers  which  came 
over  in  the  Pleistocene  period,  or  even  earlier.  Others,  like  the 
common  periwinkle,  seem  to  have  been  slowly  extending  them- 
selves in  modern  times,  perhaps  even  by  the  agency  of  man. 
The  older  immigrants  may  possibly  have  taken  advantage  of 
lines  of  coast  now  submerged,  or  of  warm  periods,  when  they 
could  creep  round  the  Arctic  shores.  Mr.  Herbert  Carpenter 
and  other  naturalists  employed  on  the  Challenger  collections 
have  made  similar  statements  respecting  other  marine  inverte- 
brates, as,  for  instance,  the  Echinoderms,  of  which  the  deep- 
sea  crinoids  present  many  common  species,  and  my  own  collec- 
tions prove  that  many  of  the  shallow-water  forms  are  common. 
Dall  and  Whiteaves1  have  shown  that  some  mollusks  and 
Echinoderms  are  common  even  to  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
coasts  of  North  America ;  a  remarkable  fact,  testifying  at  once 
to  the  fixity  of  these  species  and  to  the  manner  in  which  they 
have  been  able  to  take  advantage  of  geographical  changes. 
Some  of  the  species  of  whelks  common  to  the  Gulf  of  St. 
Lawrence  and  the  Pacific  are  animals  which  have  no  special 
1  Dall,  Report  on  Alaska  ;  Whiteaves,  Trans.  R,  S.  C. 


THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC          87 


locomotive  powers,  even  when  young,  but  they  are  northern 
forms  not  proceeding  far  south,  so  that  they  may  have  passed 
through  the  Arctic  seas.  In  this  connection  it  is  well  to  re- 
mark that  many  species  of  animals  have  powers  of  locomotion 
in  youth  which  they  lose  when  adult,  and  that  others  may  have 
special  means  of  transit.  I  once  found  at  Gaspe  a  specimen 
of  the  Pacific  species  of  Coronula,  or  whale-barnacle,  the  C. 
regince  of  Darwin,  attached  to  a  whale  taken  in  the  Gulf  of  St. 
Lawrence,  and  which  had  possibly  succeeded  in  making  that 
passage  around  the  north  of  America  which  so  many  navigators 
have  essayed  in  vain.1 

But  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  while  many  plants  and  marine 
invertebrates  are  common  to  the  two  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  it 
is  different  with  land  animals,  and  especially  vertebrates.  I  do 
not  know  that  any  palaeozoic  insects  or  land  snails  or  millipedes 
of  Europe  and  America  are  specifically  identical,  and  of  the 
numerous  species  of  batrachians  of  the  Carboniferous  and 
reptiles  of  the  Mesozoic,  all  seem  to  be  distinct  on  the  two 
sides.  The  same  appears  to  be  the  case  with  the  Tertiary 
mammals,  until  in  the  later  stages  of  that  great  period  we  find 
such  genera  as  the  horse,  the  camel,  and  the  elephant  appear- 
ing on  the  two  sides  of  the  Atlantic  ;  but  even  then  the  species 
seem  different,  except  in  the  case  of  a  few  northern  forms. 

Some  of  the  longer-lived  mollusks  of  the  Atlantic  furnish 
suggestions  which  remarkably  illustrate  the  biological  aspect  of 
these  questions.  Our  familiar  friend  the  oyster  is  one  of  these. 
The  first-known  oysters  appear  in  the  Carboniferous  in  Belgium 
and  in  the  United  States  of  America.  In  the  Carboniferous 
and  Permian  they  are  few  and  small,  and  they  do  not  culminate 
till  the  Cretaceous,  in  which  there  are  no  less  than  ninety-one 
so-called  species  in  America  alone ;  but  some  of  the  largest 
known  species  are  found  in  the  Eocene.  The  oyster,  though 

1  I  am  informed,  however,  that  the  Coronula  is  found  also  in  the  Bis- 
cayan  whales. 


88          THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC 

an  inhabitant  of  shallow  water,  and  very  limitedly  locomotive 
when  young,  has  survived  all  the  changes  since  the  Carbon- 
iferous age,  and  has  spread  itself  over  the  whole  northern 
hemisphere,1  though  a  warm  water  rather  than  Arctic  type. 

I  have  collected  fossil  oysters  in  the  Cretaceous  clays  of  the 
coulees  of  Western  Canada,  in  the  Lias  shales  of  England,  in 
the  Eocene  and  the  Cretaceous  beds  of  the  Alps,  of  Egypt,  of 
the  Red  Sea  coast,  of  Judea,  and  the  heights  of  Lebanon. 
Everywhere  and  in  all  formations  they  present  forms  which  are 
so  variable  and  yet  so  similar  that  one  might  suppose  all  the 
so-called  species  to  be  mere  varieties.  Did  the  oyster  originate 
separately  on  the  two  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  or  did  it  cross  over 
so  promptly  that  its  appearance  seems  to  be  identical  on  the 
two  sides  ?  Are  all  the  oysters  of  a  common  ancestry,  or  did 
the  causes,  whatever  they  were,  which  introduced  the  oyster  in 
the  Carboniferous  act  over  again  in  later  periods  ?  Who  can 
tell?  This  is  one  of  the  cases  where  causation  and  develop- 
ment— the  two  scientific  factors  which  constitute  the  basis  of 
what  is  called  evolution  —cannot  easily  be  isolated.  I  would 
recommend  to  those  biologists  who  discuss  these  questions  to 
devote  themselves  to  the  oyster.  This  familiar  mollusk  has 
successfully,  pursued  its  course,  and  has  overcome  all  its  enemies, 
from  the  flat-toothed  selachians  of  the  Carboniferous  to  the 
oyster  dredges  of  the  present  day,  has  varied  almost  indefinitely, 
and  yet  has  continued  to  be  an  oyster,  unless,  indeed,  it  may  at 
certain  portions  of  its  career  have  temporarily  assumed  the 
guise  of  a  Gryphaea  or  an  Exogyra.  The  history  of  such  an 
animal  deserves  to  be  traced  with  care,  and  much  curious  in- 
formation respecting  it  will  be  found  in  the  report  which  I  have 
cited  in  the  note 

But  in  these  respects  the  oyster,  is  merely  an  example  of 
many  forms.  Similar  considerations  apply  to  all  those  Pliocene 
and  Pleistocene  mollusks  which  are  found  in  the  raised  sea 
1  White,  Report  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  1882-83. 


THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC          89 

bottoms  of  Norway  and  Scotland,  on  the  top  of  Moel  Tryfaen, 
in  Wales,  and  at  similar  great  heights  on  the  hills  of  America, 
many  of  which  can  be  traced  back  to  early  Tertiary  times,  and 
can  be  found  to  have  extended  themselves  over  all  the  seas  of 
the  northern  hemisphere.  They  apply  in  like  manner  to  the 
ferns,  the  conifers,  and  the  broad-leaved  trees,  many  of  which 
we  can  now  trace  without  specific  change  to  the  Eocene  and 
Cretaceous.  They  all  show  that  the  forms  of  living  things  are 
more  stable  than  the  lands  and  seas  in  which  they  live.  If  we 
were  to  adopt  some  of  the  modern  ideas  of  evolution,  we  might 
cut  the  Gordian  knot  by  supposing  that,  as  like  causes  produce 
like  effects,  these  types  of  life  have  originated  more  than  once 
in  geological  time,  and  need  not  be  genetically  connected  with 
each  other.  But  while  evolutionists  repudiate  such  an  appli- 
cation of  their  doctrine,  however  natural  and  rational,  it  would 
seem  that  nature  still  more  strongly  repudiates  it,  and  will  not 
allow  us  to  assume  more  than  one  origin  for  one  species. 
Thus  the  great  question  of  geographical  distribution  remains 
in  all  its  force ;  and,  by  still  another  of  our  geological  paradoxes, 
mountains  become  ephemeral  things  in  comparison  with  the 
delicate  herbage  which  covers  them,  and  seas  are  in  their  pre- 
sent extent  but  of  yesterday,  when  compared  with  the  minute 
and  feeble  organisms  that  creep  on  their  sands  or  swim  in  their 
waters. 

The  question  remains  :  Has  the  Atlantic  achieved  its  des- 
tiny and  finished  its  course,  or  are  there  other  changes  in  store 
for  it  in  the  future  ?  The  earth's  crust  is  now  thicker  and 
stronger  than  ever  before,  and  its  great  ribs  of  crushed  and 
folded  rock  are  more  firm  and  rigid  than  in  any  previous  period. 
The  stupendous  volcanic  phenomena  manifested  in  Mesozoic 
and  early  Tertiary  times  along  the  borders  of  the  Atlantic 
have  apparently  died  out.  These  facts  are  in  so  far  guarantees 
of  permanence.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  known  that  move- 
ments of  elevation,  along  with  local  depression,  are  in  progress 


QO          THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC 

in  the  Arctic  regions,  and  a  great  weight  of  new  sediment  is 
being  deposited  along  the  borders  of  the  Atlantic,  especially 
on  its  western  side  ;  and  this  is  not  improbably  connected  with 
the  earthquake  shocks  and  slight  movements  of  depression 
which  have  occurred  in  North  America.  It  is  possible  that 
these  slight  and  secular  movements  may  go  on  uninterruptedly, 
or  with  occasional  paroxysmal  disturbances,  until  considerable 
changes  are  produced. 

It  is  possible,  on  the  other  hand,  that  after  the  long  period 
of  quiescence  which  has  elapsed,  there  may  be  a  new  settlement 
of  the  ocean  bed,  accompanied  with  foldings  of  the  crust,  es- 
pecially on  the  western  side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  possibly  with 
renewed  volcanic  activity  on  its  eastern  margin.  In  either 
case,  a  long  time  relatively  to  our  limited  human  chronology 
may  intervene  before  the  occurrence  of  any  marked  change. 
On  the  whole,  the  experience  of  the  past  would  lead  us  to  ex- 
pect movements  and  eruptive  discharges  in  the  Pacific  rather 
than  in  the  Atlantic  area.  It  is  therefore  not  unlikely  that  the 
Atlantic  may  remain  undisturbed,  unless  secondarily  and  in- 
directly, until  after  the  Pacific  area  shall  have  attained  to  a 
greater  degree  of  quiescence  than  at  present.  But  this  subject 
is  one  too  much  involved  in  uncertainty  to  warrant  us  in  follow- 
ing it  farther. 

In  the  meantime  the  Atlantic  is  to  us  a  practically  permanent 
ocean,  varying  only  in  its  tides,  its  currents,  and  its  winds,  which 
science  has  already  reduced  to  definite  laws,  so  that  we  can 
use  if  we  cannot  regulate  them.  It  is  ours  to  take  advantage 
of  this  precious  time  of  quietude,  and  to  extend  the  blessings 
of  science  and  of  our  Christian  civilisation  from  shore  to  shore, 
until  there  shall  be  no  more  sea,  not  in  the  sense  of  that  final 
drying-up  of  old  ocean  to  which  some  physicists  look  forward, 
but  in  the  higher  sense  of  its  ceasing  to  be  the  emblem  of  un- 
rest and  disturbance,  and  the  cause  of  isolation. 

I  must  now  close  this  chapter  with  a  short  statement  of  some 


THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   NORTH   ATLANTIC          9 1 

general  truths  which  I  have  had  in  view  in  directing  attention 
to  the  geological  development  of  the  Atlantic.  We  cannot, 
I  think,  consider  the  topics  to  which  I  have  referred  with- 
out perceiving  that  the  history  of  ocean  and  continent  is  an 
example  of  progressive  design,  quite  as  much  as  that  of  living 
beings.  Nor  can  we  fail  to  see  that,  while  in  some  important 
directions  we  have  penetrated  the  great  secret  of  nature,  in 
reference  to  the  general  plan  and  structure  of  the  earth  and 
its  waters,  and  the  changes  through  which  they  have  passed, 
we  have  still  very  much  to  learn,  and  perhaps  quite  as  much  to 
unlearn,  and  that  the  future  holds  out  to  us  and  to  our  suc- 
cessors higher,  grander,  and  clearer  conceptions  than  those  to 
which  we  have  yet  attained.  The  vastness  and  the  might  of 
ocean  and  the  manner  in  which  it  cherishes  the  feeblest  and 
most  fragile  beings,  alike  speak  to  us  of  Him  who  holds  it  in 
the  hollow  of  His  hand,  and  gave  to  it  of  old  its  boundaries 
and  its  laws  ;  but  its  teaching  ascends  to  a  higher  tone  when 
we  consider  its  origin  and  history,  and  the  manner  in  which  it 
has  been  made  to  build  up  continents  and  mountain-chains, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  to  nourish  and  sustain  the  teeming  life 
of  sea  and  land. 

REFERENCES  : — Presidential  Address  to  the  British  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science,  Birmingham,  1 886.  "  Geology  of  Nova 
Scotia,  New  Brunswick,  and  Prince  Edward  Island."  Fourth 
Edition,  London,  1891. 


THE  DAWN  OF  LIFE. 


DEDICATED    TO   THE    MEMORY   OF 
SIR    WILLIAM    E.    LOGAN, 

THE  UNWEARIED  EXPLORER  OF  THE  LAURENTIAN  ROCKS, 
AND  THE  FOUNDER 

OF  THE 

GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY  OF  CANADA. 


WHAT  ARE  THE  OLDEST  ROCKS,  AND  WHERE?— CONDITIONS 
OF  THEIR  FORMATION — INDICATIONS  OF  LIFE— WHAT  ITS 
PROBABLE  NATURE 


NATURE-PRINT  OF  EOZOON, showing  laminated,  acervuline,  and  fragmental 
portions. 

This  is  printed  from  an  electrotype  taken  from  an  etched  slab  of  Eozoon, 
and  not  touched  with  a  graver  except  to  remedy  some  accidental  flaws  in 
the  plate.  The  diagonal  white  line  marks  the  course  of  a  calcite  vein. 


CHAPTER  V. 
THE  DAWN  OF  LIFE 

DO  we  know  the  first  animal ?  Can  we  name  it,  explain 
its  structure,  and  state  its  relations  to  its  successors  ? 
Can  we  do  this  by  inference  from  the  succeeding  types  of 
being  ;  and  if  so,  do  our  anticipations  agree  with  any  actual 
reality  disinterred  from  the  earth's  crust  ?  If  we  could  do  this, 
either  by  inference  or  actual  discovery,  how  strange  it  would 
be  to  know  that  we  had  before  us  even  the  remains  of  the  first 
creature  that  could  feel  or  will,  and  could  place  itself  in  vital 
relation  with  the  great  powers  of  inanimate  nature.  If  we 
believe  in  a  Creator,  we  shall  feel  it  a  solemn  thing  to  have 
access  to  the  first  creature  into  which  He  breathed  the  breath 
of  life.  If  we  hold  that  all  things  have  been  evolved  from 
collision  of  dead  forces,  then  the  first  molecules  of  matter 
which  took  upon  themselves  the  responsibility  of  living,  and, 
aiming  at  the  enjoyment  of  happiness,  subjected  themselves  to 
the  dread  alternatives  of  pain  and  mortality,  must  surely  evoke 
from  us  that  filial  reverence  which  we  owe  to  the  authors  of 
our  own  being  ;  if  they  do  not  involuntarily  draw  forth  even  a 
superstitious  adoration.  The  veneration  of  the  old  Egyptian 
for  his  sacred  animals  would  be  a  comparatively  reasonable 
idolatry,  if  we  could  imagine  any  of  these  animals  to  have 
been  the  first  that  emerged  from  the  domain  of  dead  matter, 
and  the  first  link  in  a  reproductive  chain  of  being  that  produced 
all  the  population  of  the  world.  Independently  of  any  such 
hypotheses,  all  students  of  nature  must  regard  with  surpassing 


THE   DAWN    OF   LIFE 


interest  the  first  bright  streaks  of  light  that  break  on  the  long 
reign  of  primeval  night  and  death,  and  presage  the  busy  day 
of  teeming  animal  existence. 

No  wonder,  then,  that  geologists  have  long  and  earnestly 
groped  in  the  rocky  archives  of  the  earth  in  search  of  some 
record  of  this  patriarch  of  the  animal  kingdom.  But  after 
long  and  patient  research  there  still  remained  a  large  residuum 
of  the  oldest  rocks  destitute  of  all  traces  of  living  beings,  and 
designated  by  the  hopeless  name  "  Azoic,"  —  the  formations 
destitute  of  remains  of  life,  the  stony  records  of  a  lifeless 
world.  So  the  matter  remained  till  the  Laurentian  rocks  of 
Canada,  lying  at  the  base  of  these  old  Azoic  formations, 
afforded  forms  believed  to  be  of  organic  origin.  The  dis- 
covery was  hailed  with  enthusiasm  by  those  who  had  been 
prepared  by  previous  study  to  receive  it.  It  was  regarded  with 
feeble  and  not  very  intelligent  faith  by  many  more,  and  was 
met  with  half-concealed  or  open  scepticism  by  others.  It  pro- 
duced a  copious  crop  of  descriptive  and  controversial  literature, 
but  for  the  most  part  technical,  and  confined  to  scientific  trans- 
actions and  periodicals,  read  by  very  few  except  specialists. 
Thus,  few  even  of  geological  and  biological  students  have  clear 
ideas  of  the  real  nature  and  mode  of  occurrence  of  these 
ancient  organisms,  if  organisms  they  are,  and  of  their  relations 
to  better  known  forms  of  life  ;  while  the  crudest  and  most  in- 
accurate ideas  have  been  current  in  lectures  and  popular  books, 
and  even  in  text-books. 

This  state  of  things  has  long  ceased  to  be  desirable  in  the 
interests  of  science,  since  the  settlement  of  the  questions  raised 
is  in  the  highest  degree  important  to  the  history  of  life.  We 
cannot,  it  is  true,  affirm  that  Eozoon  is  in  reality  the  long- 
sought  prototype  of  animal  existence  ;  but  it  was  for  us,  at 
least  until  recently,  the  last  organic  foothold,  on  which  we  can 
poise  ourselves,  that  we  may  look  back  into  the  abyss  of  the  infi- 
nite past,  and  forward  to  the  long  and  varied  progress  of  life  in 


THE   DAWN    OF   LIFE  97 

geological  time.  Now,  however,  we  have  announcements  to  be 
referred  to  in  the  sequel  of  other  organisms  discovered  in  the 
so-called  Archaean  rocks  ;  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  these 
will  rapidly  increase.  The  discussion  of  its  claims  has  also 
raised  questions  and  introduced  new  points,  certain,  if  properly 
entered  into,  to  be  fruitful  of  interesting  and  valuable  thought, 
and  to  form  a  good  introduction  to  the  history  of  life  in  con- 
nection with  geology. 

As  we  descend  in  depth  and  time  into  the  earth's  crust, 
after  passing  through  nearly  all  the  vast  series  of  strata  consti- 
tuting the  monuments  of  geological  history,  we  at  length  reach 
the  Eozoic  or  Laurentian  rocks,1  deepest  and  oldest  of  all  the 
formations  known  to  the  geologist,  and  more  thoroughly  altered 
or  metamorphosed  by  heat  and  heated  moisture  than  any 
others.  These  rocks,  at  one  time  known  as  Azoic,  being  sup- 
posed destitute  of  all  remains  of  living  things,  but  now  more 
properly  Eozoic,  are  those  in  which  the  first  bright  streaks  of 
the  dawn  of  life  make  their  appearance. 

The  name  Laurentian,  given  originally  to  the  Canadian 
development  of  these  rocks  by  Sir  William  Logan,  but  now 
applied  to  them  throughout  the  world,  is  derived  from  a  range 
of  hills  lying  north  of  the  St.  Lawrence  valley,  which  the  old 
French  geographers  named  the  Laurentides.  In  these  hills 
the  harder  rocks  of  this  old  formation  rise  to  considerable 
heights,  and  form  the  highlands  separating  the  St.  Lawrence 
valley  from  the  great  plain  fronting  on  Hudson's  Bay  and  the 
Arctic  Sea.  At  first  sight  it  may  seem  strange  that  rocks  so 
ancient  should  anywhere  appear  at  the  surface,  especially  on 
the  tops  of  hills ;  but  this  is  a  necessary  result  of  the  mode  of 
formation  of  our  continents.  The  most  ancient  sediments 
deposited  in  the  sea  were  those  first  elevated  into  land,  and 
first  altered  and  hardened.  Upheaved  in  the  folding  of  the 
earth's  crust  into  high  and  rugged  ridges,  they  have  either  re- 
1  Otherwise  named  "  Archrean." 


98  THE   DAWN   OF   LIFE 

mained  uncovered  with  newer  sediments,  or  have  had  such  as 
were  deposited  on  them  washed  away ;  and  being  of  a  hard 
and  resisting  nature,  they  have  remained  comparatively  unworn 
when  rocks  much  more  modern  have  been  swept  off  by  denud- 
ing agencies.1 

But  the  exposure  of  the  old  Laurentian  skeleton  of  mother 
earth  is  not  confined  to  the  Laurentide  Hills,  though  these 
have  given  the  formation  its  name.  The  same  ancient  rocks 
appear  in  the  Adirondack  mountains  of  New  York,  and  in 
the  patches  which  at  lower  levels  protrude  from  beneath  the 
newer  formations  along  the  American  coast  from  Newfoundland 
to  Maryland.  The  older  gneisses  of  Norway,  Sweden,  and 
the  Hebrides,  of  Bavaria  and  Bohemia,  of  Egypt,  Abyssinia 
and  Arabia,  belong  to  the  same  age,  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that 
similar  rocks  in  many  other  parts  of  the  old  continent  will  be 
found  to  be  of  as  great  antiquity.  In  no  part  of  the  world, 
however,  are  the  Laurentian  rocks  more  extensively  distributed 
or  better  known  than  in  Canada ;  and  to  this  as  the  grandest 
and  most  instructive  development  of  them  we  may  more 
especially  devote  our  attention. 

The  Laurentian  rocks,  associated  with  another  series  only  a 
little  younger,  the  Huronian,  form  a  great  belt  of  broken  and 
hilly  country,  extending  from  Labrador  across  the  north  of 
Canada  to  Lake  Superior,  and  thence  bending  northward  to 
the  Arctic  Sea.  Everywhere  on  the  lower  St.  Lawrence  they 
appear  as  ranges  of  billowy  rounded  ridges  on  the  north  side 
of  the  river,  and  as  viewed  from  the  water  or  the  southern 
shore,  especially  when  sunset  deepens  their  tints  to  blue  and 
violet,  they  present  a  grand  and  massive  appearance,  which,  in 
the  eye  of  the  geologist,  who  knows  that  they  have  endured 
the  battles  and  the  storms  of  time  longer  than  any  other  moun- 

1  This  implies  the  permanence  of  continents  in  their  main  features,  a 
doctrine  the  writer  has  maintained  for  thirty  years,  and  which  is  discussed 
elsewhere. 


THE   DAWN   OF   LIFE  99 

tains,  invests  them  with  the  dignity  which  their  mere  elevation 
would  fail  to  give.  (Fig.  i.)  In  the  isolated  mass  of  the 
Adirondacks,  south  of  the  Canadian  frontier,  they  rise  to  a 
still  greater  elevation,  and  form  an  imposing  mountain  group, 
almost  equal  in  height  to  their  somewhat  more  modern  rivals, 
the  White  Mountains,  which  face  them  on  the  opposite  side  of 
Lake  Champlain. 

The  grandeur  of  the  old  Laurentian  ranges  is,  however,  best 
displayed  where  they  have  been  cut  across  by  the  great  trans- 
verse gorge  of  the  Saguenay,  and  where  the  magnificent  preci- 
pices, known  as  Capes  Trinity  and  Eternity,  look  down  from 
their  elevation  of  1,500  feet  on  the  fiord,  which  at  their  feet  is 
more  than  100  fathoms  deep.  The  name  Eternity  applied  to 
such  a  mass  is  geologically  scarcely  a  misnomer,  for  it  dates 
back  to  the  very  dawn  of  geological  time,  and  is  of  hoar 
antiquity  in  comparison  with  such  upstart  ranges  as  the  Andes 
and  the  Alps.  (See  Frontispiece.) 

On  a  nearer  acquaintance,  the  Laurentian  country  appears 
as  a  broken  and  hilly  upland  and  highland  district,  clad  in  its 
pristine  state  with  magnificent  forests,  but  affording  few  attrac- 
tions to  the  agriculturist,  except  in  the  valleys,  which  follow  the 
lines  of  its  softer  beds,  while  it  is  a  favourite  region  for  the 
angler,  the  hunter,  and  the  lumberman.  Many  of  the  Lauren- 
tian townships  of  Canada  are,  however,  already  extensively 
settled,  and  the  traveller  may  pass  through  a  succession  of 
more  or  less  cultivated  valleys,  bounded  by  rocks  or  wooded 
hills  and  crags,  and  diversified  by  running  streams  and  roman- 
tic lakes  and  ponds,  constituting  a  country  always  picturesque 
and  often  beautiful,  and  rearing  a  strong  and  hardy  population. 
To  the  geologist  it  presents  in  the  main  immensely  thick  beds 
of  gneiss,  bedded  diorite  and  quartzite,  and  similar  crystalline 
rocks,  contorted  in  the  most  remarkable  manner,  so  that  if 
they  could  be  flattened  out  they  would  serve  as  a  skin  much 
too  large  for  mother  earth  in  her  present  state,  so  much  has 


100 


THE   DAWN   OF   LIFE 


THE   DAWN   OF   LIFE  IOI 

she   shrunk   and  wrinkled   since    those  ^  ^ 

youthful  days  when  the  Laurentian  rocks  |_J 

were  her  outer  covering. 

I  cannot  describe  such  rocks,  but  their  ^ 

names,  as  given  in  the  section,  Fig.   2,  %> 
will  tell  something  to  those  who  have 
any  knowledge  of  the  older  crystalline         . 

materials  of  the  earth's  crust.     To  those  ^ 

who  have  not,  I  would  advise  a  visit  to  ^  vjn  *    § 

some  cliff  on  the  lower  St.  Lawrence,  or  *j  Nn       w 

<^ 

the  Hebridean  coasts,  or  the  shore   of 

Norway,  where  the  old  hard  crystalline  'ft 

and   gnarled   beds   present   their  sharp  's  <*  ~*  o 

edges  to  the  ever  raging  sea,  and  show  £,  iH       ~ 

their  endless  alternations  of  various  kinds  g 

and  colours  of  strata,  often  diversified  § 

with    veins     and     nests    of    crystalline  ^  g  s 

minerals.     He  who  has  seen  and  studied  ^  1  *   |  J 

such  a  section  of  Laurentian  rock  cannot  ^ 


The  elaborate  stratigraphical  work  of  °,«3 

Sir  William  Logan  has  proved  that  these  g 

old    crystalline    rocks    are    bedded    or  S 

stratified,  and  that  they  must  have  been  „      J     Hl|  "°  J 

deposited  in  succession  by  some  process  't5 

of  aqueous  action.    They  have,  however,  g 

through  geological  ages  of  vast  duration  £ 

been  subjected  to  pressure  and  chemical  .§ 

action,  which  have,  as  stated  in  a  pre-  j> 

vious  chapter,  much  modified  their  struc-  I      ,  ^ 

ture,  while  it  is  also  certain  that  they  ^    *|       |  "°    % 

must   have   differed  originally  from  the  £    '|| 
sands,    clays    and   other    materials   laid 
down  in  the  sea  in  later  times.  >  1~~|||  „  ^ 

6  5:  " 


IO2  THE   DAWN    OF   LIFE 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  here  that  the  Laurentian  rocks 
thus  interpreted  show  that  the  oldest  known  portions  of  our 
continents  were  formed  in  the  waters.  They  are  oceanic  sedi- 
ments deposited  perhaps  when  there  was  no  dry  land,  or  very 
little,  and  that  little  unknown  to  us,  except  in  so  far  as  its 
debris  may  have  entered  into  the  composition  of  the  Lauren- 
tian rocks  themselves.  Thus  the  earliest  condition  of  the 
earth  known  to  the  geologist  is  one  in  which  old  ocean  was 
already  dominant  on  its  surface ;  and  any  previous  condition 
when  the  surface  was  heated,  and  the  water  constituted  an 
abyss  of  vapours  enveloping  its  surface,  or  any  still  earlier  con- 
dition in  which  the  earth  was  gaseous  or  vaporous,  is  a  matter 
of  mere  inference,  not  of  actual  observation.  The  formless 
and  void  chaos  is  a  deduction  of  chemical  and  physical  prin- 
ciples, not  a  fact  observed  by  the  geologist.  Still  we  know, 
from  the  great  dykes  and  masses  of  igneous  or  molten  rock 
which  traverse  the  Laurentian  beds,  that  even  at  that  early 
period  there  Avere  deep-seated  fires  beneath  the  crust ;  and  it 
is  quite  possible  that  volcanic  agencies  then  manifested  them- 
selves, not  only  with  quite  as  great  intensity,  but  also  in  the 
same  manner,  as  at  subsequent  times.  It  is  thus  not  unlikely 
that  much  of  the  land  undergoing  waste  in  the  earlier  Lauren- 
tian time  was  of  the  same  nature  with  recent  volcanic  ejections, 
and  that  it  formed  groups  of  islands  in  an  otherwise  boundless 
ocean. 

However  this  may  be,  the  distribution  and  extent  of  these 
pre-Laurentian  lands  is,  and  probably  ever  must  be,  unknown 
to  us ;  for  it  was  only  after  the  Laurentian  rocks  had  been 
deposited,  and  after  the  shrinkage  and  deformation  of  the 
earth's  crust  in  subsequent  times  had  bent  and  contorted  them, 
that  the  foundations  of  the  continents  were  laid.  The  rude 
sketch  map  of  America  given  in  Fig.  3  will  show  this,  and  will 
also  show  that  the  old  Laurentian  mountains  mark  out  the 
future  form  of  the  American  continent. 


THE   DAWN   OF   LIFE  IO3 

Some  subsequent  writers  have,  it  is  true,  treated  with  dis- 
belief Logan's  great  discoveries  ;  but  no  competent  geologist 
who  has  traced  the  regularly  bedded  limestones  and  other 
rocks  of  his  original  fields  of  investigation  could  continue  to 
doubt.  On  this  subject  I  may  quote  from  my  friend  Dr. 
Bonney,  one  of  the  most  judicious  of  the  builders  who  under- 
take hypothetically  to  lay  the  foundation  stones  of  the  earth's 


FIG.  3. — The  Laurentian  Nucleus  of  the  American  Continent,  after  Dana. 

crust  for  our  enlightenment  in  these  later  days.  In  an  address 
delivered  at  the  Bath  meeting  of  the  British  Association  he 
says  :— 

"  The  first  deposits  on  the  solidified  crust  of  the  earth  would 
obviously  be  igneous.  As  water  condensed  from  the  atmo- 
sphere on  the  cooling  surface,  aqueous  waste  or  condensation 
would  begin,  and  stratified  deposits  in  the  ocean  would  become 


104  THE  DAWN   OF  LIFE 

possible  in  addition  to  detrital  volcanic  material.  But  at  that 
time  the  crust  itself,  and  even  later  stratified  deposits  would 
often  be  kept  for  a  considerable  period  at  a  high  temperature. 
Thus,  not  only  rocks  of  igneous  origin  (including  volcanic 
ashes)  would  predominate  in  the  lowest  foundation  stones,  but 
also  secondary  changes  would  occur  more  readily,  and  even 
the  sediments  or  precipitates  might  be  greatly  modified.  As 
time  went  on,  true  sediments  would  predominate  over  volcanic 
materials,  and  these  would  be  less  and  less  affected  by  chemical 
changes,  and  would  more  and  more  retain  their  original  char- 
acter. Thus  we  should  expect  that  as  we  retraced  the  earth's 
course  through  '  the  corridor  of  time '  we  should  arrive  at 
rocks  which,  though  crystalline  in  structure,  were  evidently  in 
great  part  sedimentary  in  origin,  and  should  behind  them  find 
rocks  of  more  coarsely  crystalline  texture  and  more  dubious 
character,  which,  however,  probably  were  in  part  of  a  like 
origin,  and  should  at  last  reach  coarsely  crystalline  rocks,  in 
which,  while  occasional  sediments  would  be  possible,  the 
majority  were  originally  igneous,  though  modified  at  a  very 
early  period  of  their  history.  This  corresponds  wkh  what  we 
find  in  nature,  when  we  apply,  cautiously  and  tentatively,  the 
principles  of  interpretation  which  guide  us  in  stratigraphical 
geology." l 

This  expresses  very  well  the  general  result  of  the  patient 
stratigraphical  and  chemical  labours  of  Logan  and  Sterry 
Hunt,  as  applied  to  the  vast  areas  of  old  crystalline  stratified 
rocks  in  Canada,  and  which  I  have  had  abundant  opportunities 
to  verify  on  the  ground.  Under  the  undoubted  Cambrian 
beds  of  Canada  lies  the  Huronian,  a  formation  largely  of 
hardened  sands,  clays  and  gravels,  now  forming  sandstones, 
slates,  and  conglomerates,  but  with  great  beds  of  igneous  or 
volcanic  rock,  and  hardened  and  altered  ash  beds.  Under 

1  "The  Foundation  Stones  of  the  Earth's  Crust,"  1888.  The  extract  is 
slightly  condensed. 


THE   DAWN    OF   LIFE  IO5 

this,  in  the  upper  portion  of  the  Laurentian,  we  have  regularly 
bedded  rocks,  quartzites,  limestones,  and  quartzose,  and  gra- 
phitic and  ferruginous  gneisses,  evidently  altered  aqueous 
sediments ;  but  intermixed  with  other  rocks,  as  diorites  and 
hornblendic  gneisses,  which  are  plainly  of  different  origin. 
Lastly,  on  the  bottom  of  all,  we  have  nothing  but  coarse 
crystalline  gneiss,  representing  perhaps  the  earliest  crust  of  a 
cooling  globe.  Broadly,  and  without  entering  into  details  or 
theoretical  views  as  to  the  precise  causes  of  formation  and 
alteration  of  these  rocks,  this  is  the  structure  of  the  Archaean 
or  Eozoic  system  in  Canada ;  and  it  corresponds  with  that  of 
the  basement  or  foundation  stones  of  our  continents  in  every 
country  that  I  have  been  able  to  visit,  or  of  which  I  have 
trustworthy  accounts. 

In  the  lower  or  fundamental  gneiss,  and  in  the  igneous  beds 
which  succeed  it,  we  need  not  look  for  any  indications  of 
living  beings ;  but  so  soon  as  the  sea  began  to  deposit  sand, 
mud,  limestone,  iron  ore,  carbon,  there  would  be  nothing  to 
exclude  the  presence  of  some  forms  of  marine  life ;  while,  as 
land  must  have  already  existed,  there  would  be  a  possibility  of 
life  on  it.  This,  therefore,  we  may  begin  to  look  for  so  soon 
as  we  ascend  to  those  beds  of  the  Laurentian  in  which  lime- 
stone, iron  ore,  and  quartzite  appear  ;  and  it  is  precisely  at  this 
point  in  the  Laurentian  of  Canada  that  indications  of  life  are 
supposed  to  have  been  found.  Certain  it  is  that  if  we  cannot 
find  some  sign  of  life  in  the  Laurentian  or  Huronian,  we  shall 
have  to  face  as  the  beginnings  of  life  the  swarms  of  marine 
creatures  that  appear  all  over  the  globe  at  once,  in  the  early 
Cambrian  age. 

Is  it  likely,  then,  that  such  rocks  should  afford  any  traces  of 
living  beings,  even  if  any  such  existed  when  they  were  formed  ? 
Geologists  who  had  traced  organic  remains  back  to  the  lowest 
Cambrian  might  hope  for  such  remains,  even  in  the  Lauren- 
tian ;  but  they  long  looked  in  vain  for  their  actual  discovery. 


IO6  THE   DAWN   OF   LIFE 

Still,  as  astronomers  have  suspected  the  existence  of  unknown 
planets  from  observing  perturbations  not  accounted  for,  and 
as  voyagers  have  suspected  the  approach  to  unknown  regions 
by  the  appearance  of  floating  wood  or  stray  land  birds,  antici- 
pations of  such  discoveries  have  been  entertained  and  ex- 
pressed from  time  to  time.  Lyell,  Dana,  and  Dr.  Sterry  Hunt 
more  especially  have  committed  themselves  to  such  specula- 
tions. The  reasons  assigned  may  be  stated  thus  :— 

Assuming  the  Laurentian  rocks  to  be  altered  sediments, 
they  must,  from  their  great  extent,  have  been  deposited  in  the 
ocean ;  and  if  there  had  been  no  living  creatures  in  the  waters, 
we  have  no  reason  to  believe  that  they  would  have  consisted  of 
anything  more  than  such  sandy  and  muddy  debris  as  may  be 
washed  away  from  wasting  rocks  originally  of  igneous  origin. 
But  the  Laurentian  beds  contain  other  materials  than  these. 
No  formations  of  any  geological  age  include  thicker  or  more 
extensive  limestones.  One  of  the  beds  measured  by  the 
officers  of  the  Geological  Survey  is  stated  to  be  1,500  feet  in 
thickness,  another  is  1,250  feet  thick,  and  a  third,  750  feet; 
making  an  aggregate  of  3,500  feet.1  These  beds  may  be  traced, 
with  more  or  less  interruption,  for  hundreds  of  miles.  What- 
ever the  origin  of  such  limestones,  it  is  plain  that  they  indicate 
causes  equal  in  extent,  and  comparable  in  power  and  duration, 
with  those  which  have  produced  the  greatest  limestones  of  the 
later  geological  periods.  Now,  in  later  formations,  limestone 
is  usually  an  organic  rock,  accumulated  by  the  slow  gathering 
from  the  sea-water,  or  its  plants,  of  calcareous  matter,  by 
corals,  foraminifera,  or  shell  fish,  and  the  deposition  of  their 
skeletons,  either  entire  or  in  fragments,  in  the  sea  bottom. 
The  most  friable  chalk  and  the  most  crystalline  limestones 
have  alike  been  formed  in  this  way.  We  know  of  no  reason 
why  it  should  be  different  in  the  Laurentian  period.  When, 

1  Logan  :   "Geology  of  Canada,"  p.  45. 


THE   DAWN    OF   LIFE  IO/ 

therefore,  we  find  great  and  conformable  beds  of  limestone, 
such  as  those  described  by  Sir  William  Logan  in  the  Lauren- 
tian  of  Canada,  we  naturally  imagine  a  quiet  sea  bottom,  in 
which  multitudes  of  animals  of  humble  organization  were 
accumulating  limestone  in  their  hard  parts,  and  depositing 
this  in  gradually  increasing  thickness  from  age  to  age.  Any 
attempts  to  account  otherwise  for  these  thick  and  greatly 
extended  beds,  regularly  interstratified  with  other  deposits, 
have  so  far  been  failures,  and  have  arisen  either  from  a  want 
of  comprehension  of  the  nature  and  magnitude  of  the  appear- 
ances to  be  explained,  or  from  the  error  of  mistaking  the  true 
bedded  limestones  for  veins  of  calcareous  spar. 

The  Laurentian  rocks  contain  great  quantities  of  carbon,  in 
the  form  of  graphite  or  plumbago.  This  does  not  occur 
wholly,  or  even  principally,  in  veins  or  fissures,  but  in  the  sub- 
stance of  the  limestone  and  gneiss,  and  in  regular  layers.  So 
abundant  is  it,  that  I  have  estimated  the  amount  of  carbon  in 
one  division  of  the  Lower  Laurentian  of  the  Ottawa  district  at 
an  aggregate  thickness  of  not  less  than  twenty  to  thirty  feet,  an 
amount  comparable  with  that  in  the  true  coal  formation  itself. 
Now  we  know  of  no  agency  existing  in  present  or  in  past 
geological  time  capable  of  deoxidizing  carbonic  acid,  and 
fixing  its  carbon  as  an  ingredient  in  permanent  rocks,  except 
vegetable  life.  Unless,  therefore,  we  suppose  that  there  existed 
in  the  Laurentian  age  a  vast  abundance  of  vegetation,  either  in 
the  sea  or  on  the  land,  we  have  no  means  of  explaining  the 
Laurentian  graphite. 

The  Laurentian  formation  contains  great  beds  of  oxide  of 
iron,  sometimes  seventy  feet  in  thickness.  Here,  again,  we 
have  an  evidence  of  organic  action  ;  for  it  is  the  deoxidizing 
power  of  vegetable  matter  which  has  in  all  the  later  formations 
been  the  efficient  cause  in  producing  bedded  deposits  of  iron. 
This  is  the  case  in  modern  bog  and  lake  ores,  in  the  clay  iron- 
stones of  the  coal  measures,  and  apparently,  also,  in  the  great 


108  THE   DAWN    OF   LIFE 

ore  beds  of  the  Silurian  rocks.  May  not  similar  causes  have 
been  at  work  in  the  Laurentian  period  ? 

Any  one  of  these  reasons  might,  in  itself,  be  held  insufficient 
to  prove  so  great  and,  at  first  sight,  unlikely  a  conclusion  as 
that  of  the  existence  of  abundant  animal  and  vegetable  life  in 
the  Laurentian ;  but  the  concurrence  of  the  whole  in  a  series 
of  deposits  unquestionably  marine,  forms  a  chain  of  evidence 
so  powerful  that  it  might  command  belief  even  if  no  fragment 
of  any  organic  and  living  form  or  structure  had  ever  been 
recognised  in  these  ancient  rocks. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  the  matter  until  the  existence  of 
supposed  organic  remains  was  announced  by  Sir  W.  Logan,  at 
the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  in 
Springfield,  in  1859  ;  and  we  may  now  proceed  to  narrate  the 
manner  of  this  discovery,  and  how  it  has  been  followed  up. 

Before  doing  so,  however,  let  us  visit  Eozoon  in  one  of  its 
haunts  among  the  Laurentian  Hills.  One  of  the  most  noted 
repositories  of  its  remains  is  the  great  Grenville  band  of  lime- 
stone ;  and  one  of  the  most  fruitful  localities  is  at  a  place 
called  Cote  St.  Pierre  on  this  band.  Leaving  the  train  at 
Papineauville,  we  find  ourselves  on  the  Laurentian  rocks,  and 
pass  over  one  of  the  great  bands  of  gneiss  for  about  twelve 
miles,  to  the  village  of  St.  Andre"  Avelin.  On  the  road  we  see 
on  either  hand  abrupt  rocky  ridges,  partially  clad  with  forest, 
and  sometimes  showing  on  their  flanks  the  stratification  of  the 
gneiss  in  very  distinct  parallel  bands,  often  contorted,  as  if  the 
rocks,  when  soft,  had  been  wrung  as  a  washerwoman  wrings 
clothes.  Between  the  hills  are  little  irregular  valleys,  from 
which  the  wheat  and  oats  have  just  been  reaped,  and  the  tall 
Indian  corn  and  yellow  pumpkins  are  still  standing  in  the 
fields.  Where  not  cultivated,  the  land  is  covered  with  a  rich 
second  growth  of  young  maples,  birches,  and  oaks,  among 
which  still  stand  the  stumps  and  tall  scathed  trunks  of  enor- 
mous pines,  which  constituted  the  original  forest.  Half  way 


THE   DAWN   OF   LIFE  IO9 

we  cross  the  Nation  River,  a  stream  nearly  as  large  as  the 
Tweed,  flowing  placidly  between  wooded  banks,  which  are 
mirrored  in  its  surface ;  but  in  the  distance  we  can  hear  the 
roar  of  its  rapids,  dreaded  by  lumberers  in  their  spring  drivings 
of  logs.  Arrived  at  St.  Andre,  we  find  a  wider  valley,  the 
indication  of  the  change  to  the  limestone  band,  and  along  this, 
with  the  gneiss  hills  still  in  view  on  either  hand,  and  often 
encroaching  on  the  road,  we  drive  for  five  miles  more  to  Cote 
St.  Pierre.  At  this  place  the  lowest  depression  of  the  valley  is 
occupied  by  a  little  pond,  and,  hard  by,  the  limestone,  pro- 


FIG.  4. — Attitude  of  Limestone  at  St.   Pierre,     (a)  Gneiss  band  in  the 
Limestone,     (b)  Limestone  with  Eozoon.     (<:)  Diorite  and  Gneiss. 

tected  by  a  ridge  of  gneiss,  rises  in  an  abrupt  wooded  bank  by 
the  roadside,  and  a  little  farther  forms  a  bare  white  promontory, 
projecting  into  the  fields. 

The  limestone  is  here  highly  inclined  and  much  contorted, 
and  in  all  the  excavations  a  thickness  of  about  100  feet  of  it 
may  be  exposed.  It  is  white  and  crystalline,  varying  much, 
however,  in  coarseness  in  different  bands.  It  is  in  some  layers 
pure  and  white ;  in  others  it  is  traversed  by  many  grey  layers  of 
gneissose  and  other  matter,  or  by  irregular  bands  and  nodules 
of  pyroxene  and  serpentine,  and  it  contains  subordinate  beds  of 
dolomite.  In  one  layer  only,  and  this  but  a  few  feet  thick, 
does  the  Eozoon  occur  in  abundance  in  a  perfect  state,  though 


110  THE   DAWN   OF   LIFE 

fragments  and  imperfectly  preserved  specimens  abound  in 
other  parts  of  the  bed.  It  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  it 
constitutes  whole  beds  of  rock  in  an  uninterrupted  mass.  Its 
true  mode  of  occurrence  is  best  seen  on  the  weathered  sur- 
faces of  the  rock,  where  the  serpentinous  specimens  project  in 
irregular  patches  of  various  sizes,  sometimes  twisted  by  the 
contortion  of  the  beds,  but  often  too  small  to  surfer  in  this  way. 
On  such  surfaces  the  projecting  patches  of  the  fossil  exhibit 
laminae  of  serpentine  so  precisely  like  the  Stromatopora  of  the 
Silurian  rocks,  that  any  collector  would  pounce  upon  them  at 
once  as  fossils.  In  some  places  these  small  weathered  speci- 
mens can  be  easily  chipped  off  from  the  crumbling  surface  of 
the  limestone ;  and  it  is  perhaps  to  be  regretted  that  they  have 
not  been  more  extensively  shown  to  palaeontologists,  with  the 
cut  slices  which  to  many  of  them  are  so  problematical.  One 
of  the  original  specimens,  brought  from  the  Calumet,  and  now 
in  the  Museum  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Canada,  was  of 
this  kind,  and  much  finer  specimens  from  Cote  St.  Pierre  are 
now  in  that  collection  and  in  my  own.  A  very  fine  example  is 
represented  on  the  plate  facing  this  chapter,  which  is  taken 
from  an  original  photograph.  In  some  of  the  layers  are  found 
other  and  more  minute  vesicular  forms,  which  may  be  organic, 
and  these,  together  with  fragmental  remains,  as  ingredients  in 
the  limestone,  will  be  discussed  in  the  sequel.  We  may  merely 
notice  here  that  the  most  abundant  layer  of  Eozoon  at  this 
place  occurs  near  the  base  of  the  great  limestone  band,  and 
that  the  upper  layers,  in  so  far  as  seen,  are  less  rich  in  it. 
Further,  there  is  no  necessary  connection  between  Eozoon 
and  the  occurrence  of  serpentine,  for  there  are  many  layers  full 
of  bands  and  lenticular  masses  of  that  mineral  without  any 
Eozoon  except  occasional  fragments,  while  the  fossil  is  some- 
times partially  mineralised  with  pyroxene,  dolomite,  or  common 
limestone.  The  section  in  Fig.  4  will  serve  to  show  the  atti- 
tude of  the  limestone  at  this  place,  while  the  more  general 


THE   DAWN   OF   LIFE  III 

section,  Fig.  2,  page  101,  taken  from  Sir  William  Logan,  shows 
its  relation  to  the  other  Laurentian  rocks. 

We  may  now  notice  the  manner  in  which  the  specimens 
discovered  in  this  and  other  places  in  the  Laurentian  country 
came  to  be  regarded  as  organic. 

It  is  a  trite  remark  that  most  discoveries  are  made,  not  by  one 
person,  but  by  the  joint  exertions  of  many,  and  that  they  have 
their  preparations  made  often  long  before  they  actually  appear. 
For  this  reason  I  may  be  excused  here  for  introducing  some 
personal  details  in  relation  to  the  discovery  of  Eozoon,  and 
which  are  indeed  necessary  in  vindication  of  its  claims.  In  this 
case  the  stable  foundations  were  laid  years  before  the  discovery 
of  Eozoon,  by  the  careful  surveys  made  by  Sir  William  Logan 
and  his  assistants,  and  the  chemical  examination  of  the  rocks 
and  minerals  by  Dr.  Sterry  Hunt,  which  established  beyond  all 
doubt  the  great  age  and  truly  bedded  character  of  the  Lauren- 
tian rocks  and  their  probable  original  nature,  and  the  changes 
which  they  have  experienced  in  the  course  of  geological  time. 
On  the  other  hand,  Dr.  Carpenter  and  others  in  England  were 
examining  the  structure  of  the  shells  of  the  humbler  inhabitants 
of  the  modern  ocean,  and  the  manner  in  which  the  pores  of 
their  skeletons  become  infiltrated  with  mineral  matter  when 
deposited  in  the  sea  bottom.  These  laborious  and  apparently 
dissimilar  branches  of  scientific  inquiry  were  destined  to  be 
united  by  a  series  of  happy  discoveries,  made  not  fortuitously 
but  by  painstaking  and  intelligent  observers.  The  discovery 
of  the  most  ancient  fossil  was  thus  not  the  chance  picking  up 
of  a  rare  and  curious  specimen.  It  was  not  likely  to  be  found 
in  this  way;  and  if  so  found,  it  would  have  remained  unnoticed 
and  of  no  scientific  value,  but  for  the  accumulated  stores  of 
zoological  and  palasontological  knowledge,  and  the  surveys 
previously  made,  whereby  the  age  and  distribution  of  the 
Laurentian  rocks  and  the  chemical  conditions  of  their  deposi- 
tion and  metamorphism  were  ascertained. 


112  THE   DAWN   OF   LIFE 

The  first  specimens  of  Eozoon  ever  procured,  in  so  far  as 
known,  were  collected  at  Burgess,  in  Ontario,  by  a  veteran 
Canadian  mineralogist,  Dr.  Wilson,  of  Perth,  and  were  sent  to 
Sir  William  Logan  as  mineral  specimens.  Their  chief  interest 
at  that  time  lay  in  the  fact  that  certain  laminae  of  a  dark  green 
mineral  present  in  the  specimens  were  found,  on  analysis  by  Dr. 
Hunt,  to  be  composed  of  a  new  hydrous  silicate,  allied  to  serpen- 
tine, and  which  he  named  loganite.  The  form  of  this  mineral 
was  not  suspected  to  be  of  organic  origin.  Some  years  after,  in 
1858,  other  specimens,  differently  mineralized  with  the  minerals 
serpentine  and  pyroxene,  were  found  by  Mr.  J.  McMullen, 
an  explorer  in  the  service  of  the  Geological  Survey,  in  the 
limestone  of  the  Grand  Calumet  on  the  River  Ottawa.  These 
seem  to  have  at  once  struck  Sir  W.  E.  Logan  as  resembling  the 
Silurian  fossils  known  as  Stromatopora,  and  he  showed  them 
to  Mr.  Billings,  the  palaeontologist  of  the  survey,  and  to  the 
writer,  with  this  suggestion,  confirming  it  with  the  sagacious 
consideration  that  inasmuch  as  the  Ottawa  and  Burgess  speci- 
mens were  mineralized  by  different  substances,  yet  were  alike 
in  form,  there  was  little  probability  that  they  were  merely 
mineral  or  concretionary.  Mr.  Billings  was  naturally  unwilling 
to  risk  his  reputation  in  affirming  the  organic  nature  of  such 
specimens ;  and  my  own  suggestion  was  that  they  should  be 
sliced,  and  examined  microscopically,  and  that  if  fossils,  as  they 
presented  merely  concentric  laminae  and  no  cells,  they  would 
probably  prove  to  be  protozoa  rather  than  corals.  A  few  slices 
were  accordingly  made,  but  no  definite  structure  could  be 
detected.  Nevertheless,  Sir  William  Logan  took  some  of  the 
specimens  to  the  meeting  of  the  American  Association  at 
Springfield,  in  1859,  and  exhibited  them  as  possibly  Laurentian 
fossils  ;  but  the  announcement  was  evidently  received  with 
some  incredulity.  In  1862  they  were  exhibited  by  Sir  William 
to  some  geological  friends  in  London,  but  he  remarks  that 
"few  seemed  disposed  to  believe  in  their  organic  character, 


FIG.  2. 


FIG.  3. 


FIG.  I.     SMALL  SPECIMEN  OF  EOZOON,  weathered  out,  natural  size,  from 
a  photograph. 

FIG.  2.     CANAL  SYSTEM   OF  EOZOON  injected  with  serpentine  (magni- 
fied). 

FIG.  3.    VERY  FINE  CANALS  AND  TUBULI  filled  with  Dolomite  (magni- 
fied). 

(From  Micro-photographs.) 


THE   DAWN    OF   LIFE 


with  the  exception  of  my  friend,  Professor  Ramsay."     In  1863 
the  general  Report  of  the  Geological  Survey,  summing  up  its 


FIG.  5. — Weathered  Specimen  of  Eozoon  from  the  Calumet. 
(Collected  by  Mr.  McMullen.) 


FIG.  6. — Cross  Section  of  the  Specimen  represented  in  Fig.  8,  The 
dark  parts  are  the  laminae  of  calcareous  matter  converging  to  the  outer 
surface. 


114  THE   DAWN    OF   LIFE 

work  to  that  time,  was  published,  under  the  name  of  the 
"  Geology  of  Canada,"  and  in  this,  at  page  49,  will  be  found 
two  figures  of  one  of  the  Calumet  specimens,  here  reproduced, 
and  which,  though  unaccompanied  with  any  specific  name  or 
technical  description,  were  referred  to  as  probably  Laurentian 
fossils.  (Figs.  5  and  6.) 

About  this  time  Dr.  Hunt  happened  to  mention  to  me,  in 
connection  with  a  paper  on  the  mineralization  of  fossils  which 
he  was  preparing,  that  he  proposed  to  notice  the  mode  of 
preservation  of  certain  fossil  woods  and  other  things  with 
which  I  was  familiar,  and  that  he  would  show  me  the  paper  in 
proof,  in  order  that  I  might  give  him  any  suggestions  that 
occurred  to  me.  On  reading  it,  I  observed,  among  other 
things,  that  he  alluded  to  the  supposed  Laurentian  fossils, 
under  the  impression  that  the  organic  part  was  represented  by 
the  serpentine  or  loganite,  and  that  the  calcareous  matter  was 
the  filling  of  the  chambers.  I  took  exception  to  this,  stating 
that  though  in  the  slices  I  had  examined  no  structure  was 
apparent,  still  my  impression  was  that  the  calcareous  matter 
was  the  fossil,  and  the  serpentine  or  loganite  the  filling.  He 
said — "  In  that  case,  would  it  not  be  well  to  re-examine  the 
specimens,  and  try  to  discover  which  view  is  correct  ?  "  He 
mentioned,  at  the  same  time,  that  Sir  William  had  recently 
shown  him  some  new  and  beautiful  specimens  collected  by  Mr. 
Lowe,  one  of  the  explorers  on  the  staff  of  the  Survey,  from  a 
third  locality,  at  Grenville,  on  the  Ottawa.  It  was  supposed 
that  these  might  throw  further  light  on  the  subject ;  and 
accordingly  Dr.  Hunt  suggested  to  Sir  William  to  have 
additional  slices  of  these  new  specimens  made  by  Mr.  Weston, 
of  the  Survey,  whose  skill  as  a  preparer  of  these  and  other 
fossils  has  often  done  good  service  to  science.  A  few  days 
thereafter  some  slices  were  sent  to  me,  and  were  at  once  put 
under  the  microscope.  I  was  delighted  to  find  in  one  of  the 
first  specimens  examined  a  beautiful  group  of  tubuli  penetrating 


THE   DAWN    OF   LIFE 


one  of  the  calcite  layers.  Here  was  evidence,  not  only  that 
the  calcite  layers  represented  the  true  skeleton  of  the  fossil, 
but  also  of  its  affinities  with  the  foraminifera,  whose  tubulated 
supplemental  skeleton,  as  described  and  figured  by  Dr.  Car- 
penter, and  represented  in  specimens  in  my  collection,  pre- 
sented by  him,  was  apparently  of  the  same  type  with  that 
preserved  in  the  canals  of  these  ancient  fossils.  Fig.  7  is  an 
accurate  representation  of  the  group  of  canals  first  detected  by 


FIG.  7. — Group  of  Canals  in  the  Supplemental  Skeleton  of  Eozoon. 
Taken  from  the  specimen  in  which  they  were  first  recognised.  Magnified. 
(Camera  tracing  by  Mr.  H.  S.  Smith.) 


On  showing  the  structures  discovered  to  Sir  William  Logan, 
he  entered  into  the  matter  with  enthusiasm,  and  had  a  great 
number  of  slices,  as  well  as  decalcified  specimens,  prepared, 
which  were  placed  in  my  hands  for  examination. 

Feeling  that  the  discovery  was  most  important,  but  that  it 
would  be  met  with  determined  scepticism  by  a  great  many 
geologists,  I  was  not  content  with  examining  the  typical  speci- 
mens of  Eozoon,  but  had  slices  prepared  of  every  variety  of 


Il6  .      THE   DAWN   OF   LIFE 

Laurentian  limestone,  of  altered  limestones  from  the  Primordial 
and  Silurian,  and  of  serpentine  marbles  of  all  the  varieties 
furnished  by  our  collections.  They  were  examined  with  ordi- 
nary and  polarized  light,  and  with  every  variety  of  illumination. 
They  were  also  examined  as  decalcified  specimens,  after  the 
carbonate  of  lime  had  been  removed  by  acids.  An  extensive 
series  of  notes  and  camera  tracings  were  made  of  all  the 
appearances  observed ;  and  of  some  of  the  more  important 
structures  beautiful  drawings  were  executed  by  the  late  Mr. 
H.  S.  Smith,  the  then  palaeontological  draughtsman  of  the 
Survey.  The  result  of  the  whole  investigation  was  a  firm  con- 
viction that  the  structure  was  organic  and  foraminiferal,  and 
that  it  could  be  distinguished  from  any  merely  mineral  or 
crystalline  forms  occurring  in  these  or  other  limestones. 

At  this  stage  of  the  matter,  and  after  exhibiting  to  Sir 
William  all  the  characteristic  appearances,  in  comparison  with 
such  concretionary,  dendritic  and  crystalline  structures  as 
most  resembled  them,  and  also  with  the  structure  of  recent  and 
fossil  Foraminifera,  I  suggested  that  the  further  prosecution 
of  the  matter  should  be  handed  over  to  Mr.  Billings,  as 
palaeontologist  of  the  Survey.  I  was  engaged  in  other  re- 
searches, not  connected  with  the  Survey  or  with  this  particular 
department,  and  I  knew  that  no  little  labour  must  be  devoted 
to  the  work  and  to  its  publication,  and  that  some  controversy 
might  be  expected.  Mr.  Billings,  however,  with  his  character- 
istic caution  and  modesty,  declined.  His  hands  were  full  of 
other  work.  He  had  not  given  any  special  attention  to  the 
microscopic  appearances  of  Foraminifera  or  of  mineral  sub- 
stances. It  was  finally  arranged  that  I  should  prepare  a  de 
scription  of  the  fossil,  which  Sir  William  would  .take  to  London, 
along  with  the  more  important  specimens,  and  a  detailed  list 
stating  all  the  structures  observed  in  each.  Sir  William  was  to 
submit  the  manuscript  and  specimens  to  Dr.  Carpenter,  or, 
failing  him,  to  Prof.  T.  Rupert  Jones,  in  the  hope  that  these 


THE   DAWN    OF   LIFE  117 

eminent  authorities  would  confirm  my  conclusions,  and  bring 
forward  new  facts  which  I  might  have  overlooked  or  been 
ignorant  of.  Sir  William  saw  both  gentlemen,  who  gave  their 
testimony  in  favour  of  the  organic  and  foraminiferal  character 
of  the  specimens ;  and  Dr.  Carpenter,  in  particular,  gave  much 
attention  to  the  subject,  and  worked  out  more  in  detail  many 
of  the  finer  structures,  besides  contributing  valuable  suggestions 
as  to  the  probable  affinities  of  the  supposed  fossil. 

Dr.  Carpenter  thus  contributed  in  a  very  important  manner 
to  the  perfecting  of  the  investigations  begun  in  Canada,  and  on 
him  fell  the  greater  part  of  their  illustration  and  defence,1  in  so 
far  as  Great  Britain  is  concerned. 

The  immediate  result  was  a  composite  paper  in  the  Pro- 
ceedings of  the  Geological  Society,  by  Sir  W.  E.  Logan,  Dr.  Car- 
penter, Dr.  Hunt,  and  myself,  in  which  the  geology,  palaeonto- 
logy and  mineralogy  of  Eozoon  Canadense  and  its  containing 
rocks  were  first  given  to  the  world.2  It  cannot  be  wondered  at 
that  when  geologists  and  palaeontologists  were  thus  required  to 
believe  in  the  existence  of  organic  remains  in  rocks  regarded  as 
altogether  Azoic  and  hopelessly  barren  of  fossils,  and  to  carry 
back  the  dawn  of  life  as  far  before  those  Primordial  rocks, 
which  were  supposed  to  contain  its  first  traces,  as  these  are 
before  the  middle  period  of  the  earth's  life  history,  some  hesita- 
tion should  be  felt.  Further,  the  accurate  appreciation  of  the 
evidence  for  such  a  fossil  as  Eozoon  required  an  amount  of 
knowledge  of  minerals,  of  the  more  humble  types  of  animals, 
and  of  the  conditions  of  mineralization  of  organic  remains,  pos- 
sessed by  few  even  of  professional  geologists.  Thus  Eozoon  has 
met  with  some  scepticism  and  not  a  little  opposition, — though 
the  latter  has  been  weaker  than  we  might  have  expected  when 

1  In  Quarterly  Journal  of  Geological  Society,  vol.  xxii.  ;    Prof.   Royal 
Society,  vol.   xv.  ;  Intellectual  Observer,   1865.     Annals  and  Magazine  of 
Natural  History,  1874  ;  and  other  papers  and  notices. 

2  Joui  nal  Geological  Society,  February,  1865. 


Il8  THE   DAWN   OF   LIFE 

we  consider  the  startling  character  of  the  facts  adduced,  and 
has  mostly  come  from  men  imperfectly  informed. 

But  what  is  Eozoon,  if  really  of  animal  origin  ?  The  shortest 
answer  to  this  question  is,  that  this  ancient  fossil  is  supposed 
to  be  the  skeleton  of  a  creature  belonging  to  that  simple  and 
humbly  organized  group  of  animals  which  are  known  by  the 
name  Protozoa.  If  we  take  as  a  familiar  example  of  these  the 
gelatinous  and  microscopic  creature  found  in  stagnant  ponds, 
and  known  as  the  Amoeba  l  (Fig.  8),  it  will  form  a  convenient 
starting-point.  Viewed  under  a  low  power,  it  appears  as  a 
little  patch  of  jelly,  irregular  in  form,  and  constantly  changing 
its  aspect  as  it  moves,  by  the  extension  of  parts  of  its  body  into 
finger-like  processes  or  pseudopods  which  serve  as  extempore 
limbs.  When  moving  on  the  surface  of  a  slip  of  glass  under 
the  microscope,  it  seems,  as  it  were,  to  flow  along  rather  than 
creep,  and  its  body  appears  to  be  of  a  semi-fluid  consistency. 
It  may  be  taken  as  an  example  of  the  least  complex  forms  of 
animal  life  known  to  us,  and  is  often  spoken  of  by  naturalists 
as  if  it  were  merely  a  little  particle  of  living  and  scarcely  organ- 
ized jelly  or  protoplasm.  When  minutely  examined,  however, 
it  will  not  be  found  so  simple  as  it  at  first  sight  appears.  Its 
outer  layer  is  clear  and  transparent,  and  more  dense  than  the 
inner  mass,  which  seems  granular.  It  has  at  one  end  a  curious 
vesicle  which  can  be  seen  gradually  to  expand  and  become 
filled  with  a  clear  drop  of  liquid,  and  then  suddenly  to  contract 
and  expel  the  contained  fluid  through  a  series  of  pores  in  the 
adjacent  part  of  the  outer  wall.  This  is  the  so-called  pulsating 
vesicle,  and  is  an  organ  both  of  circulation  and  excretion.  In 
another  part  of  the  body  may  be  seen  the  nucleus,  which  is  a 
little  cell  capable,  at  certain  times,  of  producing  by  its  division 
new  individuals.  Food,  when  taken  in  through  the  wall  of  the 
body,  forms  little  pellets,  which  become  surrounded  by  a 

1  The  alternating  animal,  alluding  to  its  change  of  form. 


THE   DAWN   OF    LIFE 


119 


digestive  liquid  exuded  from  the  enclosing  mass  into  rounded 
cavities  or  extemporised  stomachs.  Minute  granules  are  seen 
to  circulate  in  the  gelatinous  interior,  and  may  be  substitutes 
for  blood-cells,  and  the  outer  layer  of  the  body  is  capable  of 
protrusion  in  any  direction  into  long  processes,  which  are  very 
mobile,  and  used  for  locomotion  and  prehension.  Further, 
this  creature,  though  destitute  of  most  of  the  parts  which  we 
are  accustomed  to  regard  as  proper  to  animals,  seems  to  exer- 
cise volition,  and  to  show  the  same  appetites  and  passions  with 
animals  of  higher  type.  I  have  watched  one  of  these  animal- 


FIG.  S.     Amoeba.  FIG.  9.     Actinophiys. 

From  original  sketches. 

cules  endeavouring  to  swallow  a  one-celled  plant  as  long  as  its 
own  body ;  evidently  hungry  and  eager  to  devour  the  tempting 
morsel,  it  stretched  itself  to  its  full  extent,  trying  to  envelope 
the  object  of  its  desire.  It  failed  again  and  again  ;  but  renewed 
the  attempt,  until  at  length,  convinced  of  its  hopelessness,  it 
flung  itself  away  as  if  in  disappointment,  and  made  off  in  search 
of  something  more  manageable.  With  the  Amoeba  are  found 
other  types  of  equally  simple  Protozoa,  but  somewhat  differently 


120  THE  DAWN   OF   LIFE 

organized.  One  of  these,  Actinophrys  (Fig.  9),  has  the  body 
globular  and  unchanging  in  form,  the  outer  wall  of  greater  thick- 
ness ;  the  pulsating  vesicle  like  a  blister  on  the  surface,  and  the 
pseudopods  long  and  thread-like.  Its  habits  are  similar  to 
those  of  the  Amoeba,  and  I  introduce  it  to  show  the  variations 
of  form  and  structure  possible  even  among  these  simple 
creatures. 

The  Amoeba  and  Actinophrys  are  fresh-water  animals,  and 
are  destitute  of  any  shell  or  covering.  But  in  the  sea  there  ex- 
ist swarms  of  similar  creatures,  equally  simple  in  organization, 
but  gifted  with  the  power  of  secreting  around  their  soft  bodies 
beautiful  little  shells  or  crusts  of  carbonate  of  lime,  having  one 
orifice,  and  often  in  addition  multitudes  of  microscopic  pores 
through  which  the  soft  gelatinous  matter  can  ooze,  and  form 
outside  finger-like  or  thread-like  extensions  for  collecting  food. 
In  some  cases  the  shell  consists  of  a  single  cavity  only,  but  in 
most,  after  one  cell  is  completed,  others  are  added,  forming 
a  series  of  cells  or  chambers  communicating  with  each  other, 
and  often  arranged  spirally  or  otherwise  in  most  beautiful  and 
symmetrical  forms.  Some  of  these  creatures,  usually  named 
Foraminifera,  are  locomotive,  others  sessile  and  attached. 
Most  of  them  are  microscopic,  but  some  grow  by  multiplication 
of  chambers  till  they  are  a  quarter  of  an  inch  or  more  in 
breadth. 

The  original  skeleton  or  primary  cell  wall  of  most  of  these 
creatures  is  seen  under  the  miscroscope  to  be  perforated  with 
innumerable  pores,  and  is  extremely  thin.  When,  however, 
owing  to  the  increased  size  of  the  shell,  or  other  wants  of  the 
creature,  it  is  necessary  to  give  strength,  this  is  done  by  add- 
ing new  portions  of  carbonate  of  lime  to  the  outside,  and  to 
these  Dr.  Carpenter  has  given  the  appropriate  name  of  "  sup- 
plemental skeleton  "  ;  and  this,  when  covered  by  new  growths, 
becomes  what  he  has  termed  an  "  intermediate  skeleton."  The 
supplemental  skeleton  is  also  traversed  by  tubes,  but  these  are 


THE   DAWN   OF   LIFE  121 

often  of  larger  size  than  the  pores  of  the  cell-wall,  and  of 
greater  length,  and  branched  in  a  complicated  manner.  Thus 
there  are  microscopic  characters  by  which  these  curious  shells 
can  be  distinguished  from  those  of  other  marine  animals  ;  and 
by  applying  these  characters  we  learn  that  multitudes  of 
creatures  of  this  type  have  existed  in  former  periods  of  the 
world's  history,  and  that  their  shells,  accumulated  in  the  bottom 
of  the  sea,  constitute  large  portions  of  many  limestones.  The 
manner  in  which  such  accumulation  takes  place  we  learn  from 
what  is  now  going  on  in  the  ocean,  more  especially  from  the 
result  of  the  recent  deep-sea  dredging  expeditions.  The 
Foraminifera  are  vastly  numerous,  both  near  the  surface  and 
at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  and  multiply  rapidly  ;  and  as  suc- 
cessive generations  die,  their  shells  accumulate  on  the  ocean 
bed,  or  are  swept  by  currents  into  banks,  and  thus,  in  process 
of  time,  constitute  thick  beds  of  white  chalky  material,  which 
may  eventually  be  hardened  into  limestone.  This  process 
is  now  depositing  a  great  thickness  of  white  ooze  in  the  bottom 
of  the  ocean  ;  and  in  times  past  it  has  produced  such  vast 
thicknesses  of  calcareous  matter  as  the  chalk  and  nummulitic 
limestone  of  Europe  and  the  orbitoidal  limestone  of  America. 
The  chalk  which  alone  attains  a  maximum  thickness  of  1,000 
feet,  and,  according  to  Lyell,  can  be  traced  across  Europe  for 
1,100  geographical  miles,  may  be  said  to  be  entirely  composed 
of  shells  of  Foraminifera  imbedded  in  a  paste  of  smaller 
calcareous  bodies,  the  Coccoliths,  which  are  probably  products 
of  marine  vegetable  life,  if  not  of  some  animal  organism  still 
simpler  than  the  Foraminifera. 

Lastly,  while  we  have  in  such  modern  forms  as  the  masses 
of  Polytrema  attached  to  corals,  and  the  Loftusia  of  the 
Eocene  and  the  carboniferous,  large  fossil  foraminiferal 
species,  there  is  some  reason  to  believe  that  in  the  earlier  geo 
logical  ages  there  existed  much  larger  animals  of  this  grade 
than  are  found  in  our  present  seas  ;  and  that  these,  always 


122  THE   DAWN   OF   LIFE 

sessile  on  the  bottom,   grew  by   the  addition   of   successive 
chambers,  in  the  same  manner  with  the  smaller  species.1 

Let  us,  then,  examine  the  structure  of  Eozoon,  taking  a 
typical  specimen,  as  we  find  it  in  the  limestone  of  Grenville  or 
Petite  Nation.  In  such  specimens  the  skeleton  of  the  animal 
is  represented  by  a  white  crystalline  marble,  the  cavities  of  the 
cells  by  green  serpentine,  the  mode  of  whose  introduction  we 
shall  have  to  consider  in  the  sequel.  The  lowest  layer  of  ser- 
pentine represents  the  first  gelatinous  coat  of  animal  matter 
which  grew  upon  the  bottom,  and  which,  if  we  could  have 
seen  it  before  any  shell  was  formed  upon  its  surface,  must  have 
resembled  a  minute  patch  of  living  slime.  On  this  primary 
layer  grew  a  delicate  calcareous  shell,  perforated  by  innumer- 
able minute  tubuli,  and  resting  on  the  slimy  matter  of  the 
animal,  though  supported  also  by  some  perpendicular  plates  or 
septa.  Upon  this  again  was  built  up,  in  order  to  strengthen  it, 
a  thickening  or  supplemental  skeleton,  more  dense,  and  desti- 
tute of  fine  tubuli,  but  traversed  by  branching  canals,  through 
which  the  soft  gelatinous  matter  could  pass  for  the  nourish- 
ment of  the  skeleton  itself,  and  the  extension  of  pseudopods  be- 
yond it.  (Figs.  11,12.)  So  was  formed  the  first  layer  of  Eozoon, 
which  probably  was  at  its  beginning  only  of  very  small  dimen- 
sions. On  this  the  process  of  growth  of  successive  layers  of 
animal  sarcode  and  of  calcareous  skeleton  was  repeated  again 
and  again,  till  in  some  cases  even  a  hundred  or  more  layers 
were  formed  (nature-print,  Chap.  VI.)  As  the  process  went  on, 
however,  the  vitality  of  the  organism  became  exhausted,  prob- 
ably by  the  deficient  nourishment  of  the  central  and  lower 
layers  making  greater  and  greater  demands  on  those  above, 
and  so  the  succeeding  layers  became  thinner,  and  less  sup- 
plemental skeleton  was  developed.  Finally,  toward  the  top, 
the  regular  arrangement  in  layers  was  abandoned,  and  the  cells 

1  I  refer  to  some  of  the  Stromatoporse  of  the  Silurian  and  the  Cryptozoon 
of  the  Cambriaa  See  note  appended  to  this  chapter. 


THE   DAWN   OF   LIFE 


123 


became  a  mass  of  rounded  chambers,  irregularly  piled  up  in 
what  Dr.  Carpenter  has  termed  an  "  acervuline  "  manner,  and 
with  very  thin  walls  unprotected  by  supplemental  skeleton. 
Then  the  growth  was  arrested,  and  possibly  these  upper  layers 
gave  off  reproductive  germs,  fitted  to  float  or  swim  away  and 
to  establish  new  colonies.  We  may  have  such  reproductive 
germs  in  certain  curious  globular  bodies,  like  loose  cells,  found 
in  connection  with  Eozoon  in  many  of  the  Laurentian  lime- 


Mlllllil 


FIG.  10.— Minute  Foraminiferal  forms  from  the  Laurentian  of  Long 
Lake.  Highly  magnified,  (a)  Single  cell,  showing  tubulated  wall.  (&,  c) 
Portions  of  same  more  highly  magnified.  (d)  Serpentine  cast  of  a 
similar  chamber,  decalcified,  and  showing  casts  of  tubuli. 

stones.1  At  St.  Pierre,  on  the  Ottawa,  these  bodies  occur  on 
the  surface  of  layers  of  the  limestone  in  vast  numbers,  as  if 
they  had  been  growing  separately  on  the  bottom,  or  had  been 
drifted  over  it  by  currents.  They  may  have  served  as  repro- 

1  It  would  be  interesting  to  compare  these  bodies  with  the  forms  re- 
cently found  by  Barrois  and  Cayeux  in  the  "  Azoic  "  quartzite  of  Brittany, 
which  should  certainly  now  be  called  Eozoic. 
7 


124  THE   DAWN   OF   LIFE 

ductive  buds  or  germs  to  establish  new  colonies  of  the  species. 
Such  was  the  general  mode  of  growth  of  Eozoon,  and  we  may 
now  consider  more  in  detail  some  questions  as  to  its  gigantic 
size,  its  precise  mode  of  nutrition,  the  arrangement  of  its 
parts,  its  relations  to  more  modern  forms,  and  the  effects  of 
its  growth  in  the  Laurentian  seas. 

With  respect  to  the  size  of  Eozoon,  this  was  rivalled  by 
some  succeeding  animals  of  the  same  humble  type  in  later  geo- 
logical ages ;  and,  as  a  whole,  foraminiferal  animals  have  been 
diminishing  in  size  in  the  lapse  of  geological  time.  This  is 
indeed  a  fact  of  so  frequent  occurrence  that  it  may  almost  be 
regarded  as  a  law  of  the  introduction  of  new  forms  of  life, 
that  they  assume  in  their  early  history  gigantic  dimensions, 
and  are  afterwards  continued  by  less  magnificent  species.  The 
relations  of  this  to  external  conditions,  in  the  case  of  higher 
animals,  are  often  complex  and  difficult  to  understand ;  but  in 
organisms  so  low  as  Eozoon  and  its  allies,  they  lie  more 
on  the  surface.  Such  creatures  may  be  regarded  as  the 
simplest  and  most  ready  media  for  the  conversion  of  vegetable 
matter  into  animal  tissues,  and  their  functions  are  almost 
entirely  limited  to  those  of  nutrition.  Hence  it  is  likely  that 
they  will  be  able  to  appear  in  the  most  gigantic  forms  under 
such  conditions  as  afford  them  the  greatest  amount  of  pabulum 
for  the  nourishment  of  their  soft  parts  and  for  their  skeletons. 
There  is  reason  to  believe,  for  example,  that  the  occurrence, 
both  in  the  chalk  and  the  deep-sea  mud,  of  immense  quanti- 
ties of  the  minute  bodies  known  as  Coccoliths  along  with 
Foraminifera,  is  not  accidental.  The  Coccoliths  appear  to  be 
grains  of  calcareous  matter  formed  in  minute  plants  adapted 
to  a  deep-sea  habitat ;  and  these,  along  with  the  vegetable 
and  animal  debris  constantly  being  derived  from  the  death  of 
the  living  things  at  the  surface,  afford  the  material  both  of 
sarcode  and  shell.  Now  if  the  Laurentian  graphite  represents 
an  exuberance  of  vegetable  growth  in  those  old  seas  propor- 


THE  DAWN   OF   LIFE  125 

tionate  to  the  great  supplies  of  carbonic  acid  in  the  atmosphere 
and  in  the  waters,  and  if  the  Eozoic  ocean  was  even  better 
supplied  with  salts  of  lime  than  those  Silurian  seas  whose  vast 
limestones  bear  testimony  to  their  richness  in  such  material, 
we  can  easily  imagine  that  the  conditions  may  have  been  more 
favourable  to  a  creature  like  Eozoon  than  those  of  any  other 
period  of  geological  time. 

Growing,  as  Eozoon  did,  on  the  floor  of  the  ocean,  and 
covering  wide  patches  with  more  or  less  irregular  masses,  it 
must  have  thrown  up  from  its  whole  surface  its  pseudopods 
to  seize  whatever  floating  particles  of  food  the  waters  carried 
over  it.  There  is  also  reason  to  believe,  from  the  outline  of 
certain  specimens,  that  it  often  grew  upward  in  conical  or  club- 
shaped  forms,  and  that  the  broader  patches  were  penetrated  by 
large  pits  or  oscula,  admitting  the  sea-water  deeply  into  the 
substance  of  the  masses.  In  this  way  its  growth  might  be 
rapid  and  continuous  ;  but  it  does  not  seem  to  have  possessed 
the  power  of  growing  indefinitely  by  new  and  living  layers 
covering  those  that  had  died,  in  the  manner  of  some  corals.  Its 
life  seems  to  have  had  a  definite  termination,  and  when  that 
was  reached,  an  entirely  new  colony  had  to  be  commenced. 
In  this  it  had  more  affinity  with  the  Foraminifera,  as  we  now 
know  them,  than  with  the  corals,  though  practically  it  had  the 
same  power  with  the  coral  polyps  of  accumulating  limestone 
in  the  sea  bottom — a  power  indeed  still  possessed  by  its  fora- 
miniferal  successors.  In  the  case  of  coral  limestones  we 
know  that  a  large  proportion  of  these  consist  not  of  continuous 
reefs,  but  of  fragments  of  coral  mixed  with  other  calcareous 
organisms,  spread  usually  by  waves  and  currents  in  continuous 
beds  over  the  sea  bottom.  In  like  manner  we  find  in  the 
limestones  containing  Eozoon,  layers  of  fragmental  matter 
which  show  in  places  the  characteristic  structures,  and  which 
evidently  represent  the  debris  swept  from  the  Eozoic  masses 
and  reefs  by  the  action  of  the  waves.  It  is  with  this  frag- 


126  THE   DAWN   OF   LIFE 

mental  matter  that  the  small  rounded  organisms  already  re- 
ferred to  most  frequently  occur;  and  while  they  may  be 
distinct  animals,  they  may  also  be  the  fry  of  Eozoon,  or  small 
portions  of  its  acervuline  upper  surface  floated  off  in  a  living 
state,  and  possibly  capable  of  living  independently  and  of 
founding  new  colonies. 

It  is  only  by  a  somewhat  wild  poetical  licence  that  Eozoon 
has  been  represented  as  a  "  kind  of  enormous  composite 
animal  stretching  from  the  shores  of  Labrador  to  Lake 
Superior,  and  thence  northward  and  southward  to  an  unknown 
distance,  and  forming  masses  1,500  feet  in  depth."  We  may, 
it  is  true,  readily  believe  in  the  composite  nature  of  masses  or 
Eozoon,  and  we  see  in  the  corals  evidence  of  the  great  size  to 
which  composite  animals  of  a  higher  grade  can  attain.  In  the 
case  of  Eozoon  we  must  imagine  an  ocean  floor  more  uniform 
and  level  than  that  now  existing.  On  this  the  organism  would 
establish  itself  in  spots  and  patches.  These  might  finally  be- 
come confluent  over  large  areas,  just  as  massive  corals  do. 
As  individual  masses  attained  maturity  and  died,  their  pores 
would  be  filled  up  with  limestone  or  silicious  deposits,  and 
thus  could  form  a  solid  basis  for  new  generations,  and  in  this 
way  limestone  to  an  indefinite  extent  might  be  produced. 
Further,  wherever  such  masses  were  high  enough  to  be 
attacked  by  the  breakers,  or  where  portions  of  the  sea  bottom 
were  elevated,  the  more  fragile  parts  of  the  surface  would 
be  broken  up  and  scattered  widely  in  beds  of  fragments  over 
the  bottom  of  the  sea,  while  here  and  there  beds  of  mud  or 
sand,  or  of  volcanic  debris  would  be  deposited  over  the  living 
or  dead  organic  mass,  and  would  form  the  layers  of  gneiss 
and  other  schistose  rocks  interstratified  with  the  Laurentian 
limestone.  In  this  way,  in  short,  Eozoon  would  perform  a 
function  combining  that  which  corals  and  Foraminifera  perform 
in  the  modern  seas ;  forming  both  reef  limestones  and  exten- 
sive chalky  beds,  and  probably  living  both  in  the  shallow  and 


THE   DAWN   OF   LIFE 


127 


the  deeper  parts  of  the  ocean.  If  in  connection  with  this  we 
consider  the  rapidity  with  which  the  soft,  simple,  and  almost 
structureless  sarcode  of  these  Protozoa  can  be  built  up,  and 
the  probability  that  they  were  more  abundantly  supplied  with 
food,  both  for  nourishing  their  soft  parts  and  skeletons,  than 
any  similar  creatures  in  later  times,  we  can  readily  understand 
the  great  volume  and  extent  of  the  Laurentian  limestones 
which  they  aided  in  producing.  I  say  aided  in  producing, 
because  I  would  not  care  to  commit  myself  to  the  doctrine 
that  the  Laurentian  limestones  are  wholly  of  this  origin. 
There  may  have  been  other  limestone  builders  than  Eozoon, 


FIG.  II. — Section  of  a  Nummulite,  from  Eocene  Limestone  of  Syria. 
S'howing  chambers,  tubnli,  and  canals.  Compare  this  and  Fig.  12  with  Fig. 
7  and  Nature-print  of  Eozoon. 

and  there  may  have  been  limestones  formed  by  plants  like  the 
modern  Nullipores,  or  by  merely  mineral  deposition. 

Its  relations  to  modern  animals  of  its  type  have  been  very 
clearly  defined  by  Dr.  Carpenter.  In  the  structure  of  its 
proper  wall  and  its  fine  parallel  perforations,  it  resembles  the 
Nummulites  and  their  allies ;  and  the  organism  may  therefore 
be  regarded  as  an  aberrant  member  of  the  Nummuline  group, 
which  affords  some  of  the  largest  and  most  widely  distributed 
of  the  fossil  Foraminifera.  This  resemblance  may  be  seen  in 
Fig.  ii.  To  the  Nummulites  it  also  conforms  in  its  tendency 
to  form  a  supplemental  or  intermediate  skeleton  with  canals, 


128 


THE   DAWN    OF   LIFE 


though  the  canals  themselves  in  the  arrangement  more  nearly 
resemble  Calcarina,  which  is  represented  in  Fig.  12.  In  its 
superposition  of  many  layers,  and  in  its  tendency  to  a  heaped 
up  or  acervuline  irregular  growth  it  resembles  Polytrema  and 
TinoporuS)  forms  of  a  different  group  in  so  far  as  shell-struc- 
ture is  concerned.  It  may  thus  be  regarded  as  a  composite 
type,  combining  peculiarities  now  observed  in  two  groups,  or 
it  may  be  regarded  as  representing  one  of  these  in  another 
series.  At  the  time  when  Dr.  Carpenter  stated  these 


FIG.  12.— Portion  of  shell  of  Calcarina.  Magnified,  after  Carpenter, 
(a)  Cells.  (l>)  Original  cell  wall  with  tubuli.  (f)  Supplementary 
skeleton  with  canals. 

affinities,  it  might  be  objected  that  Foraminifera  of  these 
families  are  in  the  main  found  in  the  modern  and  Tertiary 
periods.  Dr.  Carpenter  has  since  shown  that  the  curious  oval 
Foraminifer  called  Fusultna,  found  in  the  coal  formation,  is 
allied  to  both  Nummulites  and  Rotalines  ;  and  Mr.  Brady  has 
discovered  a  true  Nummulite  in  the  Lower  Carboniferous  of 
Belgium.  I  have  myself  found  small  Foraminifera  in  the 
Silurian  and  Cambro-Silurian  of  Canada.  This  group  being 


THE   DAWN   OF   LIFE  129 

now  brought  down  to  the  Palaeozoic,  we  may  hope  to  trace  it  to 
the  Primordial,  and  thus  to  bring  it  still  nearer  to  Eozoon  in  time. 
Though  Eozoon  was  probably  not  the  only  animal  of  the 
Laurentian  seas,  yet  it  was  in  all  likelihood  the  most  con- 
spicuous and  important  as  a  collector  of  calcareous  matter, 
filling  the  same  place  afterwards  occupied  by  the  reef-building 
corals.  Though  probably  less  efficient  than  these  as  a  con- 
structor of  solid  limestones,  from  its  less  permanent  and  con- 
tinuous growth,  it  formed  wide  floors  and  patches  on  the 
sea  bottom,  and  when  these  were  broken  up,  vast  quantities  of 
limestone  were  formed  from  their  debris.  It  must  also  be  borne 
in  mind  that  Eozoon  was  not  everywhere  infiltrated  with  ser- 
pentine or  other  silicious  minerals  ;  quantities  of  its  substance 
were  merely  filled  with  carbonate  of  lime,  resembling  the 
chamber  wall  so  closely  that  it  is  nearly  impossible  to  make  out 
the  difference,  and  thus  is  likely  to  pass  altogether  unobserved 
by  collectors,  and  to  baffle  even  the  microscopist.  Although, 
therefore,  the  layers  which  contain  well  characterised  Eozoon 
are  few  and  far  between,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  in  the 
composition  of  the  limestones  of  the  Laurentian  it  bore  no 
small  part,  and  as  these  limestones  are  some  of  them  several 
hundred  feet  in  thickness,  and  extend  over  vast  areas,  Eozoon 
may  be  supposed  to  have  been  as  efficient  a  world-builder  as 
the  Stromatoporae  of  the  Silurian  and  Devonian,  the  Globi- 
gerinse  and  their  allies  in  the  chalk,  or  the  Nummulites 
and  Miliolites  in  the  Eocene.  It  is  a  remarkable  illustration 
of  the  constancy  of  natural  causes  and  of  the  persistence  of 
animal  types,  that  these  humble  Protozoans,  which  began  to 
secrete  calcareous  matter  in  the  Laurentian  period,  have  been 
continuing  their  work  in  the  ocean  through  all  the  geological 
ages,  and  are  still  busy  in  accumulating  those  chalky  muds  with 
which  recent  dredging  operations  in  the  deep  sea  have  made 
us  so  familiar.  (See  Note  appended.) 

All  this  seems  sufficiently  reasonable,  more  especially  since 


130  THE  DAWN   OF   LIFE 

no  mineralogist  has  yet  succeeded  in  giving  a  feasible  inor- 
ganic explanation  of  the  combination  of  canals,  laminae,  tubu- 
lation  and  varied  mineral  character  existing  in  Eozoon. 
But  then  comes  the  strange  fact  of  its  apparent  isolation  with- 
out companions  in  highly  crystalline  rocks,  and  with  appa- 
rently no  immediate  successors.  This  has  staggered  many, 
and  it  certainly,  if  taken  thus  baldly,  seems  in  some  degree 
improbable.  Recent  discoveries,  however,  are  removing  this 
reproach  from  Eozoon.  The  Laurentian  rocks  have  yielded 
other  varieties,  or  perhaps  species  of  the  genus,  those  which  I 
have  described  as  variety  Acervulina,  and  variety  Minor,  and 
still  another  form,  more  like  a  Stromatopora,  which  I  have 
provisionally  named  E.  latior,  from  the  breadth  and  uniformity 
of  its  plates.1  There  are  also  in  the  Laurentian  limestone 
cylindrical  bodies  apparently  originally  tubular,  and  with  the 
sides  showing  radiating  markings  in  the  manner  of  corals,  or 
of  the  curious  Cambrian  Archaeocyathus.  Matthew,  a  most 
careful  observer,  has  found  in  the  Laurentian  limestone  of 
New  Brunswick  certain  laminated  bodies  of  cylindrical  form, 
constituting  great  reefs  in  the  limestone,  and  in  the  slates 
linear  flat  objects  resembling  Algae  or  Graptolites,  and  spicular 
structures  resembling  those  of  sponges.2  Britton  has  also  de- 
scribed from  the  Laurentian  limestone  of  New  Jersey  certain 
ribbon-like  objects  of  graphite  which  he  regards  as  vegetable, 
and  names  Archceophyton  Newberryii?  Should  these  objects 
prove  to  be  organic,  Eozoon  will  no  longer  be  alone.  Besides 
this  the  peculiar  bodies  named  Cryptozoum  by  Hall,  and  which 
are  intermediate  in  structure  between  Eozoon  and  Loftusia, 
have  now  been  found  as  low  as  the  Lower  Cambrian.4  Barrois 


1  Notes  on  Specimens  of  Eozoon,  "  Memoirs  of  Peter  Redpath  Museum," 
1888. 

8  Bui.  Nat.  Hist.  New  Brunsnoick,  No.  IX.,  1890. 
8  Annals  N.  Y.  Academy  of  Science,  1888. 
4  Walcott,  Lower  Cambrian,  1892. 


THE   DAWN   OF   LIFE  13! 

has  also  recently  announced  the  discovery  of  forms  which  he 
regards  as  akin  to  the  modern  Radiolaria,  creatures  of  a  little 
higher  grade  than  the  Foraminifera,  in  the  "  Archaean  "  rocks 
of  Brittany.1  Thus  Eozoon  is  no  longer  isolated,  but  has 
companions  of  the  same  great  age  with  itself.  The  progress  of 
discovery  is  also  daily  carrying  the  life  of  the  Cambrian  to 
lower  beds,  and  thus  nearer  to  the  Laurentian.  It  is  not  un- 
likely that  in  a  few  years  a  pre-Cambrian  fauna  will  force  itself 
on  the  attention  of  the  most  sceptical  geologists. 

REFERENCES: — "Life's  Dawn  on  Earth,"  London,  1875.  (Now  out  of 
print.)  "Specimens  of  Eozoon  Canadense  in  the  Peter  Red  path 
Museum,  Montreal,"  1888.  (This  memoir  contains  reference  to  pre- 
vious papers.) 

1  Natural  Science,  Oct.,  1892. 


APPENDED  NOTES. 

1.  Stromatopora. — It  has  been  usual  of  late  to  regard  these  as  allies  of 
the  modern  Millepores  and  Hydractinese  ;but  careful  study  of  large  series 
of  specimens  has  convinced  me  that  some  species,  notably  the  Stromato- 
cerium   of  the  Cambro- Silurian  and  the   cryptozoum  of  the   Cambrian, 
cannot  be  so  referred.      I  hope  to  establish  this  in  the  future,  if  time 
permit. 

2.  MODERN  FORAMINIFERA. — The  discovery  by  Brady  and  Lister  of 
reproductive  chamberlets  at  the  margin  of  the  modern  orbitolites,  tends  to 
connect  this  with  Eozoon.     The  gigantic  foraminiferal  species  discovered 
by  Agassiz  at  the  Gallipagos,  has  points  of  affinity  with  Eozoon ;  and  its 
arenaceous  nature  does  not  affect  this,  as  we  know  sandy  species  in  this 
group  closely  allied  to  others  that  are  calcareous. 

7* 


WHA T  MAY  BE  LEARNED  FROM  EOZOON. 


DEDICATED   TO   THE    MEMORY   OF 
DR.    WILLIAM    B.    CARPENTER, 

WHO,    AMONG  HIS   MANY  SERVICES   TO  SCIENCE, 

DEVOTED  MUCH   TlME  AND   LABOUR  TO  THE   INVESTIGATION 

OF   EOZOON, 

AND  BY  HIS  KNOWLEDGE  OF  FORAMINIFERA 
AND  UNRIVALLED  POWER  OF  UNRAVELLING  DIFFICULT 

STRUCTURES 
DID  MUCH  TO  RENDER  IT  INTELLIGIBLE. 


THE  MICROSCOPE  IN  GEOLOGY — CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  THE 
STUDY  OF  EOZOON  TO  OUR  KNOWLEDGE  OF  THE  MODE 
OF  PRESERVATION  OF  FOSSILS— ITS  TEACHING  RELA- 
TIVELY TO  THE  ORIGIN  OF  LIFE  AND  THE  LAWS  OF  ITS 
INTRODUCTION  AND  PROGRESS 


SPECIMEN  OF  EOZOON  CANADENSE  (DAWSON),  showing  General  Form 
and  Osculifonn  Tubes.     (Reproduced  from  Photograph.) 


CHAPTER  VI. 
WHA T  MAY  BE  LEARNED  FROM  EOZOON. 

THE  microscope  has  long  been  a  recognised  and  valued 
aid  of  the  geological  observer,  and  is  perhaps  now  in 
danger  of  being  somewhat  overrated  by  enthusiastic  specialists. 
To  the  present  writer  its  use  is  no  novelty.  When,  as  a  very 
young  geologist,  collecting  fossil  plants  in  the  coal  fields  of 
Novia  Scotia,  I  obtained  access  to  the  then  recently  published 
work  of  Witham  on  the  "  Internal  Structure  of  Fossil  Vege- 
tables." l  Fired  by  the  desire  to  learn  something  of  the  structure 
of  the  blocks  of  fossil  wood  in  my  collection,  I  at  once  procured 
a  microscope  of  what  would  now  be  considered  a  very  im- 
perfect kind,  and  proceeded  to  make  attempts  to  slice  and 
examine  my  specimens,  and  was  filled  with  joy  when  these 
old  blackened  stems  for  the  first  time  revealed  to  me  their 
wonderful  structures.  At  the  same  time  I  extended  my 
studies  to  every  minute  form  of  life  that  could  be  obtained 
from  the  sea  or  fresh  waters.  A  few  years  later  (in  1841),  when 
a  student  in  Edinburgh,  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  Mr. 
Sanderson  of  that  city,  who  had  worked  for  Nicol  and  Witham 
in  the  preparation  of  specimens,  and  learnt  the  modes  which  he 
had  employed.  Since  that  time  I  have  been  accustomed  to 
subject  every  rock,  earth  or  fossil  which  came  under  my  notice 
to  microscopic  scrutiny,  not  as  a  mere  specialist  in  that  mode 
of  observation,  or  with  the  parade  of  methods  and  details  now 
customary,  but  with  the  view  of  obtaining  valuable  facts  bear- 

1  Edinburgh,  1833. 


136        WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED   FROM   EOZOON 

ing  on  any  investigation  I  might  have  in  hand.  It  was  this 
habit  which  induced  my  old  friend,  Sir  William  Logan,  in  1858 
and  subsequent  years  to  ask  my  aid  in  the  study  of  the  forms 
believed  or  suspected  to  be  organic,  which  had  been  discovered 
in  the  course  of  his  surveys  of  the  Laurentian  rocks.  In  one 
respect  this  was  unfortunate.  It  occupied  much  time,  inter- 
fered to  some  extent  with  other  researches,  led  to  unpleasant 
controversies.  But  these  evils  were  more  than  compensated  by 
the  insight  which  the  study  gave  into  the  fact  of  the  persistence 
of  organic  structures  in  highly  crystalline  rocks,  and  to  the 
modes  of  ascertaining  and  profiting,  by  these  obscure  remains, 
while  it  has  guided  and  stimulated  enquiry  and  thought  as  to 
the  origin  and  history  of  life.  These  benefits  entitle  the  re- 
searches and  discussions  on  Eozoon  to  be  regarded  as  marking 
a  salient  point  in  the  history  of  geological  discovery,  and  it  is 
to  these  principally  that  I  would  attract  attention  in  the  pre- 
sent chapter. 

Perhaps  nothing  excites  more  scepticism  as  to  the  animal 
nature  of  Eozoon  than  the  prejudice  existing  among  geologists 
that  no  organism  can  be  preserved  in  rocks  so  highly  crystalline 
as  those  of  the  Laurentian  series.  I  call  this  a  prejudice,  be- 
cause any  one  who  makes  the  microscopic  structure  of  rocks 
and  fossils  a  special  study,  soon  learns  that  fossils  and  the 
rocks  containing  them  may  undergo  the  most  remarkable  and 
complete  mechanical  and  chemical  changes  without  losing 
their  minute  structure,  and  that  limestones,  if  once  fossiliferous, 
are  hardly  ever  so  much  altered  as  to  lose  all  traces  of  the 
organisms  which  they  contained,  while  it  is  a  most  common 
occurrence  to  find  highly  crystalline  rocks  of  this  kind  abound- 
ing in  fossils  preserved  as  to  their  minute  structure. 

Let  us,  however,  look  at  the  precise  conditions  under  which 
this  takes  place. 

When  calcareous  fossils  of  irregular  surface  and  porous  or 
cellular  texture,  such  as  Eozoon  may  have  been,  or  corals  were 


WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED   FROM   EOZOON         137 

and  are,  become  imbedded  in  clay,  marl,  or  other  soft  sedi- 
ment, they  can  be  washed  out  and  recovered  in  a  condition 
similar  to  that  of  recent  specimens,  except  that  their  pores  or 
cells,  if  open,  may  be  filled  with  the  material  of  the  matrix,  or 
if  not  so  open  that  they  can  be  thus  filled,  they  may  be  more 
or  less  incrusted  with  mineral  deposits  introduced  by  water 
percolating  the  mass,  or  may  even  be  completely  filled  up  in 
this  way.  But  if  such  fossils  are  contained  in  hard  rocks,  they 
usually  fail,  when  these  are  broken,  to  show  their  external  sur- 
faces, and,  breaking  across  with  the  containing  rock,  they  ex- 
hibit their  internal  structure  merely, — and  this  more  or  less 
distinctly,  according  to  the  manner  in  which  their  cells  or 
cavities  have  been  filled  with  mineral  matter.  Here  the 
microscope  becomes  of  essential  service,  especially  when  the 
structures  are  minute.  A  fragment  of  fossil  wood  which  to 
the  naked  eye  is  nothing  but  a  dark  stone,  or  a  coral  which  is 
merely  a  piece  of  grey  or  coloured  marble,  or  a  specimen  of 
common  crystalline  limestone  made  up  originally  of  coral  frag- 
ments, presents,  when  sliced  and  magnified,  the  most  perfect 
and  beautiful  structure.  In  such  cases  it  will  be  found  that 
ordinarily  the  original  substance  of  the  fossil  remains  in  a  more 
or  less  altered  state.  Wood  may  be  represented  by  dark  lines 
of  coaly  matter,  or  coral  by  its  white  or  transparent  calcareous 
laminae;  while  the  material  which  has  been  introduced,  and 
which  fills  the  cavities,  may  so  differ  in  colour,  transparency,  or 
crystallization,  as  to  act  differently  on  light,  and  so  reveal  the 
original  structure.  These  fillings  are  very  curious.  Sometimes 
they  are  mere  earthy  or  muddy  matter  which  has  been  washed 
into  the  cavities.  Sometimes  they  are  transparent  and  crystal- 
line. Often  they  are  stained  with  oxide  of  iron  or  coaly 
materials.  They  may  consist  of  carbonate  of  lime,  silica  or 
silicates,  sulphate  of  baryta,  oxides  of  iron,  carbonate  of  iron, 
iron  pyrite,  or  sulphides  of  copper  or  lead,  all  of  which  are 
common  materials.  They  are  sometimes  so  complicated  that 


138        WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED   FROM   EOZOON 

I  have  seen  even  the  minute  cells  of  woody  structures,  each 
with  several  bands  of  differently  coloured  materials  deposited 
in  succession,  like  the  coats  of  an  onyx  agate. 

A  further  stage  of  mineralisation  occurs  when  the  substance 
of  the  organism  is  altogether  removed  and  replaced  by  foreign 
matter,  either  little  by  little,  or  by  being  entirely  dissolved  or 
decomposed,  leaving  a  cavity  to  be  filled  by  infiltration.  In 
this  state  are  some  silicified  woods,  and  those  corals  which 
have  been  not  filled  with  but  replaced  by  silica,  and  can  thus 
sometimes  be  obtained  entire  and  perfect  by  the  solution  in 
an  acid  of  the  containing  limestone,  or  by  its  removal  in 
weathering.  In  this  state  are  the  beautiful  silicified  corals  ob- 
tained from  the  corniferous  limestone  of  Lake  Erie,  which  are 
so  perfectly  replaced  by  flinty  matter  that  when  weathered  out 
of  the  limestone,  or  treated  with  acid  till  the  latter  is  removed, 
we  find  the  coral  as  perfect  as  when  recent.  It  may  be  well 
to  present  to  the  eye  these  different  stages  of  fossilization.  I 
have  attempted  to  do  this  in  Fig.  13,  taking  a  tabulate  coral  of 
the  genus  Favosites  for  an  example,  and  supposing  the  material 
employed  to  be  calcite  and  silica.  Precisely  the  same  illustra- 
tion would  apply  to  a  piece  of  wood,  except  that  the  cell  wall 
would  be  carbonaceous  matter  instead  of  carbonate  of  lime. 
In  this  figure  the  dotted  parts  represent  carbonate  of  lime, 
the  diagonally  shaded  parts  silica  or  a  silicate.  Thus  we  have 
in  the  natural  state  the  walls  of  carbonate  of  lime  and  the 
cavities  empty  (0).  When  fossilized  the  cavities  may  be  merely 
filled  with  carbonate  of  lime,  or  they  may  be  filled  with  silica 
(If,  c} ;  or  the  walls  themselves  may  be  replaced  by  silica,  and 
the  cavities  may  remain  filled  with  carbonate  of  lime  (d) ;  or 
both  the  walls  and  cavities  may  be  represented  by  or  filled 
with  silica  or  silicates  (e).  The  ordinary  specimens  of  Eozoon 
are  supposed  to  be  in  the  third  of  these  stages,  though  some 
exist  in  the  second,  and  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  some 
have  reached  to  the  fifth.  I  have  not  met  with  any  in  the 


WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED   FROM   EOZOON 


139 


fourth  stage,  though  this  is  not  uncommon  in  Silurian  and' 
Devonian  fossils.  I  have  further  to  remark  that  the  reason 
why  wood  and  the  cells  of  corals  so  readily  become  silicified  is 
that  the  organic  matter  which  they  contain,  becoming  oxidized 
in  decay,  produces  carbon  dioxide,  which,  by  its  affinity  for 
alkalies,  can  decompose  soluble  silicates  and  thus  throw  down 
their  silica  in  an  insoluble  state.  Thus  a  fragment  of  decay- 
ing wood  imbedded  in  a  deposit  holding  water  and  alkaline 
silicates  almost  necessarily  becomes  silicified.  It  is  also  to  be 
remarked  that  the  ordinary  specimens  of  Eozoon  have  actually 
not  attained  to  the  extreme  degree  of  mineralization  seen  in 
some  much  more  recent  silicified  woods  and  corals,  inasmuch 


r^rrV* 

3 


•IL'111 

If! 

:I'L?J 


FIG.  13. — Diagram  show  ng  different  States  of  Fossilization  of  a  cell  of 
a  Tabulate  Coral,  (a)  Natural  condition — walls  calcite,  cell  empty.  (/>) 
Walls  calcite,  cell  filled  with  the  same,  (c)  Walls  calcite,  cell  filled  with 
silica  or  silicate,  (d)  Walls  silicified,  cell  filled  with  calcite.  (e)  Walls 
silicified,  cell  filled  with  silica  or  silicate. 

as  the  portion  believed  to  have  been  the  original  calcareous 
test  has  not  usually  been  silicified,  but  still  remains  in  the  state 
of  calcium  carbonate. 

With  regard,  then,  to  the  calcareous  organisms  with  which  we 
have  now  more  especially  to  do,  when  these  are  embedded  in 
pure  limestone  and  filled  with  the  same,  so  that  the  whole  rock, 
fossils  and  cavities,  is  one  in  composition,  and  when  meta- 
morphic  action  has  caused  the  whole  to  become  crystalline, 
and  has  perhaps  removed  the  remains  of  carbonaceous  matter, 
it  may  be  very  difficult  to  detect  any  traces  of  structure.  But 


I4O         WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED   FROM   EOZOON 

even  in  this  case  careful  management  of  light  may  reveal  some 
indications.  In  many  instances,  however,  even  where  the 
limestones  have  become  perfectly  crystalline,  and  the  cleavage 
planes  cut  freely  across  the  fossils,  these  exhibit  their  forms 
and  minute  structures  in  great  perfection.  This  is  the  case  in 
many  of  the  Lower  Silurian  limestones  of  Canada,  as  I  have 
elsewhere  shown.1  The  grey  crystalline  Trenton  limestone  of 
Montreal,  used  as  a  building  stone,  is  an  excellent  illustration. 
To  the  naked  eye  it  is  a  grey  marble  composed  of  cleavable 
crystals  ;  but  when  examined  in  thin  slices,  it  shows  its  or- 
ganic fragments  in  the  greatest  beauty,  and  all  their  minute 
parts  are  perfectly  marked  out  by  delicate  carbonaceous  lines. 
The  only  exception  in  this  limestone  is  in  the  case  of  the 
crinoids,  in  which  the  cellular  structure  is  filled  with  trans- 
parent calc-spar,  perfectly  identical  with  the  original  solid 
matter,  so  that  they  appear  solid  and  homogeneous,  but  there 
are  examples  in  which  even  the  minute  meshes  of  these  become' 
apparent.  The  specimen  represented  in  Fig.  14  is  a  mass  of 
Corals,  Polyzoa,  and  Crinoids,  and  shows  these  under  a  low 
power,  as  represented  in  the  figure.  The  specimen  in  Fig.  15 
shows  the  Laurentian  Eozoon  in  a  similar  state  of  preservation. 
It  is  from  a  sketch  by  Dr.  Carpenter,  and  exhibits  the  delicate 
canals  partly  filled  with  calcite  or  dolomite,  as  clear  and  colour- 
less as  that  of  the  shell  itself,  and  distinguishable  only  by  careful 
management  of  the  light. 

In  the  case  of  recent  and  fossil  Foraminifers,  these  very 
frequently  have  their  chambers  filled  solid  with  calcareous 
matter,  and  as  Dr.  Carpenter  well  remarks,  even  well  preserved 
Tertiary  Nummulites  in  this  state  often  fail  greatly  in  showing 
their  structures,  though  in  the  same  condition  they  occasionally 
show  these  in  great  perfection.  Among  the  finest  I  have  seen 
are  specimens  from  the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  Dr.  Carpenter 

1  Canadian  Naturalist,  1859  :  "  Microscopic  Structure  of  Canadian 
Limestones." 


WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED   FROM   EOZOON         14! 

mentions  as  equally  good  those  of  the  London  clay  at  Brackle- 
sham.  But  in  no  condition  do  modern  Foraminifera,  or  those 
of  the  Tertiary  and  Mesozoic  rocks  appear  in  greater  perfection 
than  when  filled  with  the  hydrous  silicate  of  iron  and  potash 


FIG.    14. — Slice   of  Crystalline   Lower  Silurian  Limestone  ;   showing 
Crinoids,  Bryozoa,  and  Corals  in  fragments. 


FIG.   15. — Walls  of  Eozoon  penetrated  with  Canals.      The  unshaded 
portions  filled  with  Calcite.     (After  Carpenter.) 

called  glauconite  or  green  earth,  a  substance  now  forming  in 
some  parts  of  the  ocean,  and  which  gives,  by  the  abundance  of 
its  little  bottle-green  concretions  the  name  of  "  greensand  "  to 
formations  of  the  Cretaceous  age  both  in  Europe  and  America. 


142         WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED    FROM    EOZOON 

In  some  beds  of  greensand  every  grain  seems,  to  have  been 
moulded  into  the  interior  of  a  microscopic  shell,  and  has  re- 
tained its  form  after  the  frail  envelope  has  been  removed.  In 
some  cases  the  glauconite  has  not  only  filled  the  chambers 
but  has  penetrated  the  fine  tubulation,  and  when  the  shell  is 
removed,  either  naturally  or  by  the  action  of  an  acid,  the 
silicious  fillings  of  the  interior  of  the  tubes  project  in 
minute  needles  or  bundles  of  threads  of  marvellous  delicacy 
from  the  surface  of  the  cast.  It  is  in  the  warmer  seas,  and 
especially  in  the  bed  of  the  Egean  and  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  that 
such  specimens  are  now  most  usually  found.1  If  we  ask  why 
this  mineral  glauconite  should  be  associated  with  foraminiferal 
shells,  the  answer  is  that  they  are  both  products  of  one  kind 
of  locality.  The  same  sea  bottoms  in  which  Foraminifera 
most  abound  are  also  those  in  which  the  chemical  conditions 
for  the  formation  of  glauconite  exist.  Hence,  no  doubt,  the 
association  of  this  mineral  with  the  great  foraminiferal  forma- 
tion of  the  chalk.  It  is  indeed  by  no  means  unlikely  that  the 
selection  by  these  creatures  of  the  pure  carbonate  of  lime  from 
the  sea  water  or  its  minute  plants,  may  be  the  means  of  setting 
free  the  silica,  iron,  and  potash,  in  a  state  suitable  for  their 
combination.  Similar  silicates  are  found  associated  with 
marine  limestones,  as  far  back  as  the  Cambro-Silurian  age; 
and  Dr.  Sterry  Hunt,  than  whom  no  one  can  be  a  better 
authority  on  chemical  geology,  has  argued  on  chemical  grounds 
that  the  occurrence  of  serpentine  with  the  remains  of  Eozoon 
is  an  association  of  the  same  character. 

However  this  may  be,  the  infiltration  of  the  pores  of  Eozoon 
with  serpentine  and  other  silicates  has  evidently  been  one  main 
means  of  its  preservation.  When  so  infiltrated  no  meta- 
morphism  short  of  the  complete  fusion  of  the  containing  rock 

1  Beautiful  specimens  of  Nummulites  preserved  in  this  way,  from  the 
Eocene  of  Kumpfen  in  Bavaria,  have  been  communicated  to  me  through  the 
kindness  of  Dr.  Otto  Ilahn. 


WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED   FROM   EOZOON          143 

could  obliterate  the  minutest  points  of  structure ;  and  that 
such  fusion  has  not  occurred,  the  preservation  in  the  Laurentian 
rocks  of  the  most  delicate  lamination  of  the  beds  shows  con- 
clusively ;  while,  as  already  stated,  it  can  be  shown  that  the 
alteration  which  has  occurred  might  have  taken  place  at  a 
temperature  far  short  of  that  necessary  to  fuse  limestone. 
Thus  has  it  happened  that  these  most  ancient  fossils  have 
been  handed  down  to  our  time  in  a  state  of  preservation  com- 
parable, as  Dr.  Carpenter  states,  to  that  of  the  best  preserved 
fossil  Foraminifera  from  the  more  recent  formations  that  have 
come  under  his  observation  in  the  course  of  all  his  long  ex- 
perience. 

Let  us  now  look  more  minutely  at  the  nature  of  the  typical 
specimens  of  Eozoon  as  originally  observed  and  described,  and 
then  turn  to  those  preserved  in  other  ways,  or  more  or  less  de- 
stroyed or  defaced.  Taking  a  polished  specimen  from  Petite 
Nation,  we  find  the  shell  represented  by  white  limestone,  and 
the  chambers  by  light  green  serpentine.  By  acting  on  the 
surface  with  a  dilute  acid  we  etch  out  the  calcareous  part, 
leaving  a  cast  in  serpentine  of  the  cavities  originally  occupied 
by  the  soft  animal  substance,  and  when  this  is  done  in  polished 
slices,  these  may  be  made  to  print  their  own  characters  on 
paper,  as  has  actually  been  done  in  the  plate  prefixed,  which 
is  an  electrotype  from  an  etched  specimen,  and  shows  both 
the  laminated  and  acervuline  parts  of  the  fossil.  If  the  pro- 
cess of  decalcification  has  been  carefully  executed,  we  find  in 
the  excavated  spaces  delicate  ramifying  processes  of  opaque 
serpentine  or  transparent  dolomite,  which  were  originally  im- 
bedded in  the  calcareous  substance,  and  which  are  often  of 
extreme  fineness  and  complexity.1  (Figs.  18,  19.)  These  are 
casts  of  the  canals  which  traversed  the  shell  when  still  inhabited 
by  the  animal,  and  have  subsequently  been  filled  with  mineral 

1  Very  fine  specimens  can  be  produced  by  polishing  thin  slices,  and  then 
etching  them  slightly  with  a  very  weak  acid.  (Plate  prefixed.) 


144        WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED   FROM   EOZOON 

matter.  In  evidence  of  this  we  sometimes  find  in  a  single  canal 
an  outer  tubular  layer  of  serpentine  and  an  inner  filling  of 
dolomite,  just  as  vessels  of  fossil  plants  are  sometimes  filled 
with  successive  coats  of  different  materials.  In  some  well 
preserved  specimens  we  find  the  original  cell  wall  represented 
by  a  delicate  white  film,  which  under  the  microscope  shows 
minute  needle-like  parallel  processes  representing  its  still  finer 
tubuli.  It  is  evident  that  to  have  filled  these  tubuli,  the  ser- 
pentine must  have  been  introduced  in  a  state  of  actual  solution, 
and  must  have  carried  with  it  no  foreign  impurities.  Conse 
quently  we  find  that  in  the  chambers  themselves  the  serpentine 
is  pure  ;  and  if  we  examine  it  under  polarized  light,  we  see  that 
it  presents  a  singularly  curdled  or  irregularly  laminated  appear- 
ance, as  if  it  had  an  imperfectly  crystalline  structure,  and  had 
been  deposited  in  irregular  laminae,  beginning  at  the  sides  of 
the  chambers,  and  filling  them  toward  the  middle,  and  had 
afterward  been  cracked  by  shrinkage,  and  the  cracks  filled  with 
a  second  deposit  of  serpentine.1  Now,  serpentine  is  a  hydrous 
silicate  of  magnesia,  and  all  that  we  need  to  suppose  is  that  in 
the  waters  of  the  Laurentian  sea  magnesia  was  present  instead 
of  iron,  alumina  or  potash,  and  we  can  understand  that  the 
Laurentian  fossil  has  been  petrified  by  infiltration  with  ser- 
pentine, as  more  modern  Foraminifera  have  been  with  glaucon- 
ite,  which,  though  it  does  not  contain  magnesia,  often  has  a 
considerable  percentage  of  alumina.  Further,  in  specimens  of 
Eozoon  from  Burgess,  the  filling  mineral  is  loganite,  a  com- 
pound of  silica,  alumina,  magnesia  and  iron  with  water,  while 
in  other  specimens  the  filling  mineral  is  pyroxene.  In  like 

1  The  same  structures  may  be  well  seen  in  thin  slices  polished,  to  be 
viewed  as  transparent  objects.  I  may,  however,  explain  that  if  these  are 
made  roughly,  and  heated  in  the  process,  they  may  often  show  only 
mineral  structures  and  cleavage  planes,  whereas,  if  polished  with  great  care 
and  slowly,  and  afterwards  cleaned  with  an  acid,  they  may  show  the 
canals  in  great  perfection. 


WHAT    MAY    BE   LEARNED   FROM   EOZOON 


145 


manner,  in  certain  Silurian  limestones  from  New  Brunswick 
and  Wales,  in  which  the  delicate  microscopic  pores  of  the 
skeletons  of  stalked  starfishes  or  crinoids  have  been  filled  with 
mineral  deposits,  so  that  when  decalcified  these  are  most  beau- 
tifully represented  by  their  casts,  Dr.  Hunt  has  proved  the  filling 
mineral  to  be l  intermediate  between  serpentine  and  glauconite. 
We  have,  therefore,  ample  warrant  for  adhering  to  his  con- 


FIG.  1 6. — Joint  of  a  Crinoid,  having  its  Pores  injected  with  a  Hydrous 
Silicate.  Upper  Silurian  Limestone,  Pole  Hill,  New  Brunswick.  Magni- 
fied 25  diameters. 

elusion  that  the  Laurentian  serpentine  was  deposited  under 
conditions  similar  to  those  of  the  modern  greensand.  Indeed, 
independently  of  Eozoon,  it  is  impossible  that  any  geologist 
who  has  studied  the  manner  in  which  this  mineral  is  associated 
with  the  Laurentian  limestones  could  believe  it  to  have  been 
1  Silicate  of  alumina,  iron,  magnesia,  and  potash. 


146        WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED   FROM   EOZOON 


formed  in  any  other  way.  Nor  need  we  be  astonished  at  the 
fineness  of  the  infiltration  by  which  these  minute  tubes,  perhaps 
__i __  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  are  filled  with  mineral  matter. 
The  micro-geologist  well  knows  how,  in  more  modern  deposits, 
the  finest  pores  of  fossils  are  filled,  and  that  mineral  matter  in 
solution  can  penetrate  the  smallest  openings  that  the  micro- 
scope can  detect.  Wherever  the  fluids  of  the  living  body  can 
penetrate,  there  also  mineral  substances  can  be  carried,  and 


FIG.  17.— Shell  from  a'Silurian  Limestone,  Wales  ;  its  cavity  filled  with 
Hydrous  Silicate.     Magnified  25  diameters. 

this  natural  injection,  effected  under  great  pressure  and  with 
the  advantage  of  ample  time,  can  surpass  any  of  the  feats  of 
the  anatomical  manipulator.  Fig.  16  represents  a  microscopic 
joint  of  a  Crinoid  from  the  Upper  Silurian  of  New  Brunswick, 
injected  with  the  hydrous  silicate  already  referred  to,  and  Fig, 
17  shows  a  microscopic  chambered  or  spiral  shell,  from  a 
Welsh  Silurian  limestone,  with  its  cavities  filled  with  a  similar 
substance. 

Taking  the  specimens  preserved  by  serpentine  as  typical,  we 
now  turn  to  certain  other  and,  in  some  respects,  less  character- 


WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED   FROM   EOZOON          147 

istic  specimens,  which  are  nevertheless  very  instructive.  At 
the  Calumet  some  of  the  masses  are  partly  filled  with  serpen- 
tine and  partly  with  white  pyroxene,  an  anhydrous  silicate  of 
lime  and  magnesia.  The  two  minerals  can  readily  be  distin- 
guished when  viewed  with  polarized  light ;  and  in  some  slices 
I  have  seen  part  of  a  chamber  or.  group  of  canals  filled  with 


FIG.  18. — Casts  of  Canals  of  Eozoon  in  Serpentine,  decalcified  and  highly 
magnified. 


_ 


FIG.   19. — Canals  of  Eozoon.      Highly  Magnified. 

serpentine  and  part  with  pyroxene.  In  this  case  the  pyroxene, 
or  the  materials  which  now  compose  it,  must  have  been  intro- 
duced by  infiltration,  as  well  as  the  serpentine.  This  is  the 
more  remarkable  as  pyroxene  is  most  usually  found  as  an  in- 
gredient of  igneous  rocks  ;  but  Dr.  Hunt  has  shown  that  in  the 
Laurentian  limestones,  and  also  in  veins  traversing  them,  it 


148         WHAT   MAY    BE   LEARNED   FROM   EOZOON 

occurs  under  conditions  which  imply  its  deposition  from  water, 
either  cold  or  warm.  Giimbel  remarks  on  this  : — "  Hunt,  in  a 
very  ingenious  manner,  compares  this  formation  and  deposition 
of  serpentine,  pyroxene,  and  loganite,  with  that  of  glauconite, 
whose  formation  has  gone  on  uninterruptedly  from  the  Silurian 
10  the  Tertiary  period,  and  is  even  now  taking  place  in  the 
depths  of  the  sea ;  it  being  well  known  that  Ehrenberg  and 
others  have  already  shown  that  many  of  the  grains  of  glauconite 
are  casts  of  the  interior  of  foraminiferal  shells.  In  the  light  of 
this  comparison,  the  notion  that  the  serpentine  and  such-like 
minerals  of  the  primitive  limestones  have  been  formed,  in  a 
similar  manner,  in  the  chambers  of  Eozoic  Foraminifera,  loses 
any  traces  of  improbability  which  it  might  at  first  seem  to 
possess." 

In  many  parts  of  the  skeleton  of  Eozoon,  and  even  in  the 
best  infiltrated  serpentine  specimens,  there  are  portions  of  the 
cell  wall  and  canal  system  which  have  been  filled  with  cal- 
careous spar  or  with  dolomite,  so  similar  to  the  skeleton  that  it 
can  be  detected  only  under  the  most  favourable  lights  and 
with  great  care  (Fig.  15,  supra).  It  is  further  to  be  remarked 
that  in  all  the  specimens  of  true  Eozoon,  as  well  as  in  many 
other  calcareous  fossils  preserved  in  ancient  rocks,  the  cal- 
careous matter,  even  when  its  minute  structures  are  not  pre- 
served, or  are  obscured,  presents  a  minutely  granular  or  curdled 
appearance,  arising,  no  doubt,  from  the  original  presence  of 
organic  matter,  and  not  recognised  in  purely  inorganic 
calcite. 

Other  specimens  of  fragmental  Eozoon  from  the  Petite 
Nation  localities  have  their  canals  filled  with  dolomite,  which 
probably  penetrated  them  after  they  were  broken  up  and  im- 
bedded in  the  rock.  I  have  ascertained,  with  respect  to  these 
fragments  of  Eozoon,  that  they  occur  abundantly  in  certain 
layers  of  the  Laurentian  limestone,  beds  of  some  thickness 
being  in  great  part  made  up  of  them,  and  coarse  and  fine  frag- 


WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED   FROM   EOZOON          149 

ments  occur  in  alternate  layers,  like  the  broken  corals  in  some 
Silurian  limestones. 

Finally,  on  this  part  of  the  subject,  careful  observation  of 
many  specimens  of  Laurentian  limestone  which  present  no 
trace  of  Eozoon  when  viewed  by  the  naked  eye,  and  no  evi- 
dence of  structure  when  acted  on  with  acids,  are  nevertheless 
organic,  and  consist  of  fragments  of  Eozoon,  and  possibly  of 
other  organisms,  not  infiltrated  with  silicates,  but  only  with 
carbonate  of  lime,  and  consequently  revealing  only  obscure 
indications  of  their  minute  structure.  I  have  satisfied  myself 
of  this  by  long  and  patient  investigations,  which  scarcely  admit 
of  any  adequate  representation,  either  by  words  or  figures. 

Every  worker  in  those  applications  of  the  microscope  to 
geological  specimens  which  have  been  termed  micro-geology,  is 
familiar  with  the  fact  that  crystalline  forces  and  mechanical 
movements  of  material  often  play  the  most  fantastic  tricks  with 
fossilized  organic  matter.  In  fossil  woods,  for  example,  we 
often  have  the  tissues  disorganized,  with  radiating  crystalliza- 
tions of  calcite  and  little  spherical  concretions  of  quartz,  or  dis- 
seminated cubes  and  grains  of  pyrite,  or  little  veins  filled  with 
sulphate  of  barium  or  other  minerals.  We  need  not,  therefore, 
be  surprised  to  find  that  in  the  venerable  rocks  containing 
Eozoon,  such  things  occur  in  the  highly  crystalline  Laurentian 
limestones,  and  even  in  some  still  showing  the  traces  of  Eozoon. 
We  find  many  disseminated  crystals  of  magnetite,  pyrite, 
spinel,  mica  and  other  minerals,  curiously  curved  prisms  of 
vermicular  mica,  bundles  of  aciculi  of  tremolite  and  similar 
substances,  veins  of  calcite  and  crysotile  or  fibrous  serpentine, 
which  often  traverse  the  best  specimens.  Where  these  occur 
abundantly,  we  usually  find  no  organic  structures  remaining,  or 
if  they  exist,  they  are  in  a  very  defective  state  of  preservation. 
Even  in  specimens  presentingt  he  lamination  of  Eozoon  to  the 
naked  eye,  these  crystalline  actions  have  often  destroyed  the 
minute  structure ;  and  I  fear  that  some  microscopists  have 


I5O         WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED   FROM    EOZOON 

been  victimized,  by  having  under  their  consideration  only 
specimens  in  which  the  actual  characters  had  been  too  much 
defaced  to  be  discernible.  No  mistake  can  be  greater  than  to 
suppose  that  any  and  every  specimen  of  Laurentian  limestone 
must  contain  Eozoon.  More  especially  have  I  hitherto  failed 
to  detect  traces  of  it  in  those  carbonaceous  or  graphitic  lime- 
stones which  are  so  very  abundant  in  the  Laurentian  country. 
Perhaps  where  vegetable  matter  was  very  plentiful  Eozoon  did 
not  thrive,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  the  growth  of  Eozoon  may 
have  diminished  the  quantity  of  vegetable  matter.  It  is  also 
to  be  observed  that  much  compression  and  distortion  have  oc- 
curred in  the  beds  of  Laurentian  limestone  and  their  contained 
fossils,  and  also  that  the  specimens  are  often  broken  by  faults, 
some  of  which  are  so  small  as  to  appear  only  on  microscopic 
examination,  and  to  shift  the  plates  of  the  fossil  just  as  if  they 
were  beds  of  rock.  This,  though  it  sometimes  produces 
puzzling  appearances,  is  an  evidence  that  the  fossils  were  hard 
and  brittle  when  this  faulting  took  place,  and  is  consequently 
an  additional  proof  of  their  extraneous  origin.  In  some  speci- 
mens it  would  seem  that  the  lower  and  older  part  of  the  fossil 
had  been  wholly  converted  into  serpentine  or  pyroxene,  or  had 
so  nearly  experienced  this  change  that  only  small  parts  of  the 
calcareous  wall  can  be  recognised.  These  portions  correspond 
with  fossil  woods  altogether  silicified,  not  only  by  the  filling  of 
the  cells,  but  also  by  the  conversion  of  the  walls  into  silica.  I 
have  specimens  which  manifestly  show  the  transition  from  the 
ordinary  condition  of  filling  with  serpentine  to  one  in  which 
the  cell-walls  are  represented  obscurely  by  one  shade  of  this 
mineral  and  the  cavities  by  another.  In  general,  however,  it 
will  be  gathered  from  the  above  explanations  that  the  specimens 
of  Eozoon  fall  short  in  thoroughness  of  mineralization  of  some 
fossils  in  much  more  modern  rocks.  I  have  specimens  of 
ancient  sponges  whose  spicular  skeletons,  originally  silicious, 
have  been  replaced  by  pyrite  or  bisulphide  of  iron,  and  of 


WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED   FROM   EOZOON          15  I 

Tertiary  fossil  woods  retaining  perfectly  their  most  minute  struc- 
tures, yet  entirely  replaced  by  silica,  so  that  not  a  particle  of 
the  original  wood  remains. 

The  above  considerations  as  to  mode  of  preservation  of 
Eozoon  concur  with  those  in  the  previous  chapter  in  showing 
its  oceanic  character,  if  really  a  fossil ;  but  the  ocean  of  the 
Eozoic  period  may  not  have  been  so  deep  as  at  present,  and  its 
waters  were  probably  warm  and  well  stocked  with  mineral 
matters  derived  from  the  newly  formed  land,  or  from  hot 
springs  in  its  own  bottom.  On  this  point  the  interesting  in- 
vestigations of  Dr.  Hunt  with  reference  to  the  chemical  con- 
ditions of  the  Silurian  seas  allow  us  to  suppose  that  the  Lau- 
rentian  ocean  may  have  been  much  more  richly  stored,  more 
especially  with  salts  of  lime  and  magnesia,  than  that  of  subse- 
quent times.  Hence  the  conditions  of  warmth,  light,  and  nutri- 
ment required  by  such  gigantic  Protozoans  would  all  be  present, 
and  hence,  also,  no  doubt,  some  of  the  peculiarities  of  their 
mineralization. 

I  desire  by  the  above  statement  of  facts  to  show,  on  the  one 
hand,  that  the  study  of  Eozoon,  regarded  as  probably  an  ancient 
form  of  marine  life,  aids  us  in  understanding  other  ancient 
fossils,  and  their  manner  of  preservation;  and  on  the  other  hand, 
that  those  who  deny  the  organic  origin  of  Eozoon  place  us  in 
the  position  of  being  unable,  in  any  rational  manner,  to  account 
for  these  forms,  so  characteristic  of  the  Laurentian  limestones, 
and  set  at  naught  the  fair  conclusions  deducible  from  the  mode 
of  preservation  of  fossils  in  the  later  formations.  The  evidence 
of  organic  origin  is  perhaps  not  conclusive,  and  in  the  present 
state  of  knowledge  it  is  certain  to  be  met  with  much  scepticism, 
more  especially  by  certain  classes  of  specialists,  whose  grasp  of 
knowledge  is  not  sufficiently  wide  to  cover,  on  the  one  hand, 
fossilization  and  metamorphism,  and  on  the  other,  to  under- 
stand the  lower  forms  of  life.  It  may,  however,  be  sufficient  to 
qualify  us  in  turning  our  thoughts  for  a  few  moments  to  con- 


152         WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED   FROM   EOZOON 

siderations  suggested  by  the  probable  origin  of  animal  life  in 
the  seas  of  the  Laurentian  period. 

Looking  down  from  the  elevation  of  our  physiological  and 
mental  superiority,  it  is  difficult  to  realize  the  exact  conditions 
in  which  life  exists  in  creatures  so  simple  as  the  Protozoa. 
There  may  perhaps  be  higher  intelligences,  that  find  it  equally 
difficult  to  realize  how  life  and  reason  can  manifest  themselves 
in  such  poor  houses  of  clay  as  those  we  inhabit.  But  placing 
ourselves  near  to  these  creatures,  and  entering,  as  it  were,  into 
sympathy  with  them,  we  can  understand  something  of  their 
powers  and  feelings.  In  the  first  place  it  is  plain  that  they 
can  vigorously,  if  roughly,  exercise  those  mechanical,  chemical, 
and  vegetative  powers  of  life  which  are  characteristic  of  the 
animal.  They  can  seize,  swallow,  digest,  and  assimilate  food  ; 
and,  employing  its  albuminous  parts  in  nourishing  their 
tissues,  can  burn  away  the  rest  in  processes  akin  to  our  respi- 
ration, or  reject  it  from  their  system.  Like  us,  they  can  sub- 
sist only  on  food  which  the  plant  has  previously  produced ; 
for  in  this  world,  from  the  beginning  of  time,  the  plant  has 
been  the  only  organism  which  could  use  the  solar  light  and 
heat  as  forces  to  enable  it  to  turn  the  dead  elements  of  matter 
into  living,  growing  tissues,  and  into  organic  compounds 
capable  of  nourishing  the  animal.  Like  us,  the  Protozoa  ex- 
pend the  food  which  they  have  assimilated  in  the  production 
of  animal  force,  and  in  doing  so  cause  it  to  be  oxidized,  or 
burnt  away,  and  resolved  again  into  dead  matter.  It  is  true 
that  we  have  much  more  complicated  apparatus  for  performing 
these  functions,  but  it  does  not  follow  that  these  give  us  much 
real  superiority,  except  relatively  to  the  more  difficult  condi- 
tions of  our  existence.  The  gourmand  who  enjoys  his  dinner 
may  have  no  more  pleasure  in  the  act  than  the  Amceba  which 
swallows  a  Diatom  ;  and  for  all  that  the  man  knows  of  the 
subsequent  processes  to  which  the  food  is  subjected,  his  in- 
terior might  be  a  mass  of  jelly,  with  extemporised  vacuoles, 


WHAT    MAY   BE   LEARNED    FROM    EOZOON          153 

like  that  of  his  humble  fellow-animal.  The  clay  is  after  all 
the  same,  and  there  may  be  as  much  difficulty  in  the  making 
of  a  simple  organism  with  varied  powers,  as  a  more  complex 
frame  for  doing  higher  work. 

In  order  that  we  may  feel,  a  complicated  apparatus  of 
nerves  and  brain  cells  has  to  be  constructed  and  set  to  work  ; 
but  the  Protozoon,  without  any  distinct  brain,  is  all  brain,  and 
its  sensation  is  simply  direct.  Thus  vision  in  these  creatures 
is  probably  performed  in  a  rough  way  by  any  part  of  their 
transparent  bodies,  and  taste  and  smell  are  no  doubt  in  the 
same  case.  Whether  they  have  any  perception  of  sound  as 
distinct  from  the  mere  vibrations  ascertained  by  touch,  we  do 
not  know.  Here,  also,  we  are  not  far  removed  above  the  Pro- 
tozoa, especially  those  of  us  to  whom  touch,  seeing  and  hear- 
ing are  direct  acts,  without  any  thought  or  knowledge  of  the 
apparatus  employed.  We  might,  so  far,  as  well  be  Amoebas. 
As  we  rise  higher  we  meet  with  more  differences.  Yet  it  is 
evident  that  our  gelatinous  fellow  being  can  feel  pain,  dread 
danger,  desire  possessions,  enjoy  pleasure,  and  in  a  direct  un- 
conscious way  entertain  many  of  the  appetites  and  passions 
that  affect  ourselves.  The  wonder  is  that  with  so  little  of 
organization  it  can  do  so  much.  Yet,  perhaps,  life  can  mani- 
fest itself  in  a  broader  and  more  intense  way  where  there  is 
little  organization,  and  a  highly  strung  and  complex  organism 
is  not  so  much  a  necessary  condition  of  a  higher  life  as  a  mere 
means  of  better  adapting  it  to  its  present  surroundings. 

A  similar  lesson  is  taught  by  the  complexity  of  their 
skeletons.  We  speak  in  a  crude,  unscientific  way  of  these 
animals  accumulating  calcareous  matter,  and  building  up 
reefs  of  limestone.  We  must,  however,  bear  in  mind  that  they 
are  as  dependent  on  their  food  for  the  materials  of  their 
skeletons  as  we  are,  and  that  their  crusts  grow  in  the  interior 
of  the  sarcode  just  as  our  bones  do  within  our  bodies.  The 
provision  even  for  nourishing  the  interior  of  the  skeleton  by 


154         WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED   FROM   EOZOON 

tubuli  and  canals  is  in  principle  similar  to  that  involved  in  the 
canals,  cells,  and  canalicules  of  bone.  The  Amoeba,  of  course, 
knows  neither  more  nor  less  of  this  than  the  average  English- 
man. It  is  altogether  a  matter  of  unconscious  growth.  The 
process  in  the  Protozoa  strikes  some  minds,  however,  as  the 
more  wonderful  of  the  two.  It  is,  says  an  eminent  modern 
physiologist,  a  matter  of  "profound  significance"  that  this 
"particle  of  jelly  [the  sarcode  of  a  Foraminifer]  is  capable  of 
guiding  physical '  forces  in  such  a  manner  as  to  give  rise  to 
these  exquisite  and  almost  mathematically  arranged  structures." 
Respecting  the  structures  themselves  there  is  no  exaggeration 
in  this.  No  arch  or  dome  framed  by  human  skill  is  more 
perfect  in  beauty  or  in  the  realization  of  mechanical  ideas  than 
the  tests  of  some  Foraminifera,  and  none  is  so  complete  and 
wonderful  in  its  internal  structure.  The  particle  of  jelly,  how- 
ever, is  a  figure  of  speech.  The  body  of  the  humblest  Foram- 
inifer is  much  more  than  this.  It  is  an  organism  with  divers 
parts,  and  it  is  endowed  with  the  mysterious  forces  of  life  which 
in  it  guide  the  physical  forces,  just  as  they  do  in  building  up 
phosphate  of  lime  in  our  bones,  or  indeed,  just  as  the  will  of 
the  architect  does  in  building  a  palace.  The  profound  signi- 
ficance which  this  has,  reaches  beyond  the  domain  of  the 
physical  and  vital,  even  to  the  spiritual.  It  clings  to  all  our 
conceptions  of  living  things  :  "  quite  as  much,  for  example,  to 
the  evolution  of  an  animal  with  all  its  parts  from  a  one-celled 
germ,  as  to  the  connection  of  brain  cells  with  the  manifesta- 
tions of  intelligence."  Viewed  in  this  way,  we  may  share  with 
the  author  of  the  sentence  I  have  quoted  his  feeling  of  venera- 
tion in  the  presence  of  this  great  wonder  of  animal  life,  "  burn- 
ing, and  not  consumed,"  nay,  building  up,  and  that  in  many 
and  beautiful  forms.  We  may  realize  it  most  of  all  in  the 
presence  of  the  organism  which  was  perhaps  the  first  to  mani- 
fest on  our  planet  these  marvellous  powers.  We  must,  how- 
ever, here  also,  beware  of  that  credulity  which  makes  too  many 


WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED   FROM   EOZOON          155 

thinkers  limit  their  conceptions  altogether  to  physical  force  in 
matters  of  this  kind  The  merely  materialistic  physiologist  is 
really  in  no  better  position  than  the  savage  who  quails  before 
the  thunderstorm,  or  rejoices  in  the  solar  warmth,  and  seeing 
no  force  or  power  beyond,  fancies  himself  in  the  immediate 
presence  of  his  God.  In  Eozoon  we  must  discern  not  only  a 
mass  of  jelly  but  a  being  endowed  with  that  higher  vital  force 
which  surpasses  vegetable  life,  and  also  physical  and  chemical 
forces  ;  and  in  this  animal  energy  we  must  see  an  emanation 
from  a  Will  higher  than  our  own,  ruling  vitality  itself;  and 
this  not  merely  to  the  end  of  constructing  the  skeleton  of  a 
Protozoon,  but  of  elaborating  all  the  wonderful  developments 
of  life  that  were  to  follow  in  succeeding  ages,  and  with  re- 
ference to  which  the  production  and  growth  of  this  creature 
were  initial  steps.  It  is  this  mystery  of  design  which  really 
constitutes  the  "profound  significance"  of  the  foraminiferal 
skeleton. 

Another  phenomenon  of  animality  forced  upon  our  notice 
by  the  Protozoa  is  that  of  the  conditions  of  life  in  animals  not 
individual,  as  we  are,  but  aggregative  and  cumulative  in  in- 
definite masses.  What,  for  instance,  the  relations  to  each 
other  of  the  Polyps,  growing  together  in  a  coral  mass,  or  the 
separate  parts  of  a  Sponge,  or  the  separate  lobes  of  a  Foram- 
inifer.  In  the  case  of  the  Polyps  we  may  believe  that  there 
is  special  sensation  in  the  tentacles  and  oral  opening  of  each 
individual,  and  that  each  may  experience  hunger  when  in 
want,  or  satisfaction  when  it  is  filled  with  food,  and  that  in- 
juries to  one  part  of  the  mass  may  indirectly  affect  other  parts, 
but  that  the  nutrition  of  the  whole  mass  may  be  as  much 
unfelt  by  the  individual  Polyps  as  the  processes  going  on  in 
our  own  liver  are  by  us.  So  in  the  case  of  a  large  Sponge,  or 
Foraminifer,  there  may  be  some  special  sensation  in  individual 
cells,  pseudopods,  or  segments,  and  the  general  sensation  may 
be  very  limited,  while  unconscious  living  powers  pervade  the 


156         WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED   FROM    EOZOON 

whole.  In  this  matter  of  aggregation  of  animals  we  have  thus 
various  grades.  The  Foraminifers  and  Sponges  present  us 
with  the  simplest  of  all,  and  that  which  most  resembles  the 
aggregation  of  buds  in  the  plant.  The  Polyps  and  complex 
Bryozoons  present  a  higher  and  more  specialized  type;  and 
though  the  bilateral  symmetry  which  obtains  in  the  higher 
animals  is  of  a  different  nature,  it  still  at  least  reminds  us  of 
that  multiplication  of  similar  parts  which  we  see  in  the  lower 
grades  of  being.  It  is  worthy  of  notice  here  that  the  lower 
animals  which  show  aggregative  tendencies  present  but  im- 
perfect indications,  or  none  at  all,  of  bilateral  symmetry. 
Their  bodies,  like  those  of  plants,  are  for  the  most  part  built 
up  around  a  central  axis,  or  they  show  tendencies  to  spiral 
modes  of  growth. 

It  is  this  composite  sort  of  life  which  is  connected  with  the 
main  geological  function  of  the  Foraminifer.  While  active 
sensation,  appetite,  and  enjoyment  pervade  the  pseudopods 
and  external  sarcode  of  the  mass,  the  hard  skeleton  common 
to  the  whole  is  growing  within  ;  and  in  this  way  the  calcareous 
matter  is  gradually  removed  from  the  sea  water,  and  built  up 
in  solid  reefs,  or  in  piles  of  loose  foiaminiferal  shells.  Thus 
it  is  the  aggregative  or  common  life,  alike  in  Foraminifers  as 
in  Corals,  that  tends  most  powerfully  to  the  accumulation  of 
calcareous  matter;  and  those  creatures  whose  life  is  of  this 
complex  character  are  best  suited  to  be  world  builders,  since 
the  result  of  their  growth  is  not  merely  a  cemetery  of  their 
osseous  remains,  but  a  huge  communistic  edifice,  to  which 
multitudes  of  lives  have  contributed,  and  in  which  successive 
generations  take  up  their  abode  on  the  remains  of  their  an- 
cestors. This  process,  so  potent  in  the  progress  of  the  earth's 
geological  history,  began,  as  far  as  we  know,  with  Eozoon. 

Whether,  then,  in  questioning  our  proto-foraminifer,  we  have 
reference  to  the  vital  functions  of  its  gelatinous  sarcode,  to  the 
complexity  and  beauty  of  its  calcareous  test,  or  to  its  capacity 


WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED   FROM   EOZOON          !$/ 

for  effecting  great  material  results  through  the  union  of  in- 
dividuals, we  perceive  that  we  have  to  do,  not  with  a  low 
condition  of  those  powers  which  we  designate  life,  but  with 
their  manifestation  through  the  means  of  a  simple  organism ; 
and  this  in  a  degree  of  perfection  which  we,  from  our  point  of 
view,  would  have  in  the  first  instance  supposed  impossible. 

If  we  imagine  a  world  altogether  destitute  of  life,  we  still 
might  have  geological  formations  in  progress.  Not  only  would 
volcanoes  belch  forth  their  liquid  lavas  and  their  stones  and 
ashes,  but  the  waves  and  currents  of  the  ocean  and  the  rains 
and  streams  on  the  land,  with  the  ceaseless  decomposing  action 
of  the  carbonic  acid  of  the  atmosphere,  would  be  piling  up 
mud,  sand,  and  pebbles  in  the  sea.  There  might  even  be 
some  formation  of  limestone  taking  place  where  springs  charged 
with  bicarbonate  of  lime  were  oozing  out  on  the  land  or  the 
bottom  of  the  waters.  But  in  such  a  world  all  the  carbon 
would  be  in  the  state  of  carbon  dioxide,  and  all  the  limestone 
would  either  be  diffused  in  small  quantities  through  various 
rocks  or  in  limited  local  beds,  or  in  solution,  perhaps  as 
chloride  of  calcium,  in  the  sea.  Dr.  Hunt  has  given  chemical 
grounds  for  supposing  that  the  most  ancient  seas  were  largely 
supplied  with  this  very  soluble  salt,  instead  of  the  chloride  of 
sodium,  or  common  salt,  which  now  prevails  in  the  sea  water. 

Where  in  such  a  world  would  life  be  introduced  ?  on  the 
land  or  in  the  waters  ?  All  scientific  probability  would  say 
in  the  latter.1  The  ocean  is  now  vastly  more  populous  than 
the  land.  The  waters  alone  afford  the  conditions  necessary 
at  once  for  the  most  minute  and  the  grandest  organisms,  at 
once  for  the  simplest  and  for  others  of  the  most  complex 
character.  Especially  do  they  afford  the  best  conditions  for 

1  A  recent  writer  (Simroth)  has,  however,  undertaken  to  maintain  the 
thesis  that  land  life  preceded  that  in  the  sea.  It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that 
he  is  an  evolutionist,  influenced  by  the  necessity  laid  upon  that  philosophy 
to  deduce  whales,  seals,  etc.,  from  land  animals. 


158         WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED   FROM   EOZOON 

those  animals  which  subsist  in  complex  communities,  and 
which  aggregate  large  quantities  of  mineral  matter  in  their 
skeletons.  So  true  is  this  that  up  to  the  present  time  all  the 
species  of  Protozoa  and  of  the  animals  most  nearly  allied  to 
them  are  aquatic.  Even  in  the  waters,  however,  plant  life, 
though  possibly  in  very  simple  forms,  must  precede  the 
animal. 

Let  humble  plants,  then,  be  introduced  in  the  waters,  and 
they  would  at  once  begin  to  use  the  solar  light  for  the  purpose 
of  decomposing  carbonic  acid,  and  forming  carbon  compounds 
which  had  not  before  existed,  and  which,  independently  of 
vegetable  life,  would  never  have  existed.  At  the  same  time 
lime  and  other  mineral  substances  present  in  the  sea  water 
would  be  fixed  in  the  tissues  of  these  plants,  either  in  a  minute 
state  of  division,  as  little  grains  or  Coccoliths,  or  in  more  solid 
masses  like  those  of  the  Corallines  and  Nullipores.  In  this 
way  a  beginning  of  limestone  formation  might  be  made,  and 
quantities  of  carbonaceous  and  bituminous  matter,  resulting 
from  the  decay  of  vegetable  substances  might  accumulate  on 
the  sea  bottom.  Now  arises  the  opportunity  for  animal  life. 
The  plants  have  collected  stores  of  organic  matter,  and  their 
minute  germs,  along  with  microscopic  species,  are  floating 
everywhere  in  the  sea.  The  plant  has  fulfilled  its  function  as 
far  as  the  waters  are  concerned,  and  now  a  place  is  prepared 
for  the  animal.  In  what  form  shall  it  appear  ?  Many  of  its 
higher  forms,  those  which  depend  upon  animal  food  or  on  the 
more  complex  plants  for  subsistence,  would  obviously  be  un- 
suitable. Further,  the  sea  water  is  still  too  much  saturated 
with  saline  matter  to  be  fit  for  the  higher  animals  of  the  waters. 
Still  further,  there  may  be  a  residue  of  internal  heat  forbidding 
coolness,  and  that  solution  of  free  oxygen  which  is  an  essential 
condition  of  existence  to  the  higher  forms  of  life.  Something 
must  be  found  suitable  for  this  saline,  imperfectly  oxygenated, 
tepid  sea.  Something,  too,  is  wanted  that  can  aid  in  introduc- 


WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED   FROM    EOZOON          159 

ing  conditions  more  favourable  to  higher  life  in  the  future. 
Our  experience  of  the  modern  world  shows  us  that  all  these 
conditions  can  be  better  fulfilled  by  the  Protozoa  than  by  any 
other  creatures.  They  can  live  now  equally  in  those  great 
depths  of  ocean  where  the  conditions  are  most  unfavourable 
to  other  forms  of  life,  and  in  tepid  unhealthy  pools  overstocked 
with  vegetable  matter  in  a  state  of  putridity.  They  form  a 
most  suitable  basis  for  higher  forms  of  life.  They  have  re- 
markable powers  of  removing  mineral  matters  from  the  waters 
and  of  fixing  them  in  solid  forms.  So,  in  the  fitness  of  things, 
a  gigantic  Foraminifer  is  just  what  we  need,  and  after  it  has 
spread  itself  over  the  mud  and  rock  of  the  primeval  seas,  and 
built  up  extensive  reefs  therein,  other  animals  may  be  intro- 
duced, capable  of  feeding  on  it,  or  of  sheltering  themselves  in 
its  stony  masses,  and  thus  we  have  the  appropriate  dawn  of 
animal  life. 

But  what  are  we  to  say  of  the  cause  of  this  new  series  of 
facts,  so  wonderfully  superimposed  upon  the  merely  vegetable 
and  mineral  ?  Must  it  remain  to  us  as  an  act  of  creation,  or 
was  it  derived  from  some  pre-existing  matter  in  which  it  had 
been  potentially  present  ?  Science  fails  to  inform  us,  but  con- 
jectural "  phylogeny  "  steps  in  and  takes  its  place.  Haeckel, 
the  prophet  of  this  new  philosophy,  waves  his  magic  wand, 
and  simple  masses  of  sarcode  spring  from  inorganic  matter, 
and  form  diffused  sheets  of  sea  slime,  from  which  are  in  time 
separated  distinct  amoeboid  and  foraminiferal  forms.  Ex- 
perience, however,  gives  us  no  facts  whereon  to  build  this 
supposition,  and  it  remains  neither  more  nor  less  scientific  or 
certain  than  that  old  fancy  of  the  Egyptians,  which  derived 
animals  from  the  fertile  mud  of  the  Nile. 

If  we  fail  to  learn  anything  of  the  origin  of  Eozoon,  and  if 
its  life  processes  are  just  as  inscrutable  as  those  of  higher 
creatures,  we  can  at  least  enquire  as  to  its  history  in  geolo- 
logical  time.  In  this  respect  we  find,  in  the  first  place,  that 


I6O         WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED   FROM   EOZOON 

the  Protozoa  have  not  had  a  monopoly  in  their  profession  of 
accumulators  of  calcareous  rock. 

Originated  by  Eozoon  in  the  old  Laurentian  time,  this  pro- 
cess has  been  proceeding  throughout  the  geological  ages  ;  and 
while  Protozoa,  equally  simple  with  the  great  prototype  of  the 
race,  have  been  and  are  continuing  its  function,  and  producing 
new  limestones  in  every  geological  period,  and  so  adding  to 
the  volume  of  the  successive  formations,  new  workers  of  higher 
grades  have  been  introduced,  capable  of  enjoying  higher  forms 
of  animal  activity,  and  equally  of  labouring  at  the  great  task 
of  continent  building ;  of  existing,  too,  in  seas  less  rich  in 
mineral  substances  than  those  of  the  Eozoic  time,  and  for  that 
very  reason  better  suited  to  higher  and  more  skilled  artists.  It 
is  to  be  observed  in  connection  with  this,  that  as  the  work  of 
the  Foraminifers  has  thus  been  assumed  by  others,  their  size 
and  importance  have  diminished,  and  the  larger  forms  of 
more  recent  times  have  some  of  them  been  fain  to  build  up 
their  hard  parts  of  cemented  sand  instead  of  limestone. 

When  the  marvellous  results  of  recent  deep-sea  dredgings 
were  first  made  known,  and  it  was  found  that  chalky  foram- 
iniferal  earth  is  yet  accumulating  in  the  Atlantic,  with  sponges 
and  sea  urchins,  resembling  in  many  respects  those  whose 
remains  exist  in  the  chalk,  the  fact  was  expressed  by  the  state- 
ment that  we  still  live  in  the  chalk  period.  Thus  stated  the 
conclusion  is  scarcely  correct.  We  do  not  live  in  the  chalk 
period,  but  the  conditions  of  the  chalk  period  still  exist  in  the 
deeper  portions  of  the  sea.  We  may  say  more  than  this.  To 
some  extent  the  conditions  of  the  Laurentian  period  still  exist 
in  the  sea,  except  in  so  far  as  they  have  been  removed  by  the 
action  of  the  Foraminifera  and  other  limestone  builders.  To 
those  who  can  realize  the  enormous  lapse  of  time  involved  in 
the  geological  history  of  the  earth,  this  conveys  an  impression 
almost  of  eternity  in  the  existence  of  this  oldest  of  all  the 
families  of  the  animal  kingdom. 


WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED   FROM   EOZOON          l6l 

We  are  still  more  deeply  impressed  with  this  when  we  bring 
into  view  the  great  physical  changes  which  have  occurred  since 
the  dawn  of  life.  When  we  consider  that  the  skeletons  of 
Eozoon  contribute  to  form  the  oldest  hills  of  our  continents  ; 
that  they  have  been  sealed  up  in  solid  marble,  and  that  they 
are  associated  with  hard  crystalline  rocks  contorted  in  the 
most  fantastic  manner ;  that  these  rocks  have  almost  from  the 
beginning  of  geological  time  been  undergoing  waste  to  supply 
the  material  of  new  formations ;  that  they  have  witnessed  in- 
numerable subsidences  and  elevations  of  the  continents ;  and 
that  the  greatest  mountain  chains  of  the  earth  have  been  built 
up  from  the  sea  since  Eozoon  began  to  exist, — we  acquire  a 
most  profound  impression  of  the  persistence  of  the  lower  forms 
of  animal  life,  and  know  that  mountains  may  be  removed  and 
continents  swept  away  and  replaced,  before  the  least  of  the 
humble  gelatinous  Protozoa  can  finally  perish.  Life  may  be 
a  fleeting  thing  in  the  individual,  but  as  handed  down  through 
successive  generations  of  beings,  and  as  a  constant  animating 
power  in  successive  organisms,  it  appears,  like  its  Creator, 
eternal. 

This  leads  to  another  and  very  serious  question.  How  long 
did  lineal  descendants  of  Eozoon  exist,  and  do  they  still  exist  ? 
We  may  for  the  present  consider  this  question  apart  from  ideas 
of  derivation  and  elevation  into  higher  planes  of  existence. 
Eozoon  as  a  species,  and  even  as  a  genus,  may  cease  to  exist 
with  the  Eozoic  age,  and  we  have  no  evidence  whatever  that 
any  succeeding  creatures  are  its  modified  descendants.  As  far 
as  their  structures  inform  us,  they  may  as  much  claim  to  be 
original  creations  as  Eozoon  itself.  Still  descendants  of  Eozoon 
may  have  continued  to  exist,  though  we  have  not  yet  met  with 
them.  I  should  not  be  surprised  to  hear  of  a  veritable  speci- 
men being  some  day  dredged  alive  in  the  Atlantic  or  the 
Pacific.  It  is  also  to  be  observed  that  in  animals  so  simple  as 
this  many  varieties  may  appear,  widely  different  from  the 


1 62         WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED   FROM   EOZOON 

original.  In  these  the  general  form  and  habit  of  life  are  the 
most  likely  things  to  change,  the  minute  structures  much  less 
so.  We  need  not,  therefore,  be  surprised  to  find  its  descend- 
ants diminishing  in  size  or  altering  in  general  form,  while  the 
characters  of  th£  fine  tubulation  and  of  the  canal  system  would 
remain.  We  need  not  wonder  if  any  sessile  Foraminifer  of  the 
Nummuline  group  should  prove  to  be  a  descendant  of  Eozoon. 
It  would  be  less  likely  that  a  Sponge  or  a  Foraminifer  of  the 
Rotaline  type  should  originate  from  it.  If  one  could  only 
secure  a  succession  of  deep-sea  limestones  with  Foraminifers 
extending  all  the  way  from  the  Laurentian  to  the  present  time, 
I  can  imagine  nothing  more  interesting  than  to  compare  the 
whole  series,  with  the  view  of  ascertaining  the  limits  of  descent 
with  variation,  and  the  points  where  new  forms  are  introduced. 
We  have  not  yet  such  a  series,  but  it  may  be  obtained ;  and  as 
these  creatures  are  eminently  cosmopolitan,  occurring  over 
vastly  wide  areas  of  sea  bottom,  and  are  very  variable,  they 
would  afford  a  better  test  of  theories  of  derivation  than  any 
that  can  be  obtained  from  the  more  locally  distributed  and 
less  variable  animals  of  higher  grade.  I  was  much  struck  with 
this  recently,  in  examining  a  series  of  Foraminifera  from 
the  Cretaceous  of  Manitoba,  and  comparing  them  with  the 
varietal  forms  of  the  same  species  in  the  interior  of  Nebraska, 
500  miles  to  the  south,  and  with  those  of  the  English  chalk  and 
of  the  modern  seas.  In  all  these  different  times  and  places  we 
had  the  same  species.  In  all  they  existed  under  so  many 
varietal  forms  passing  into  each  other,  that  in  former  times 
every  species  had  been  multiplied  by  naturalists  into  several. 
Yet,  in  all,  the  identical  varietal  forms  were  repeated  with  the 
most  minute  markings  the  same.  Here  were  at  once  constancy 
the  most  remarkable,  and  variations  the  most  extensive.  If  we 
dwell  on  the  one  to  the  exclusion  of  the  other,  we  reach  only 
one-sided  conclusions,  imperfect  and  unsatisfactory.  By  taking 
both  into  connection  we  can  alone  realize  the  full  significance 


WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED   FROM   EOZOON          163 

of  the  facts.  We  cannot  yet  obtain  such  series  for  all  geological 
time  ;  but  it  may  even  now  be  worth  while  to  enquire,  What  do 
we  know  as  to  any  modification  in  the  case  of  the  primeval 
Foraminifers,  whether  with  reference  to  the  derivation  from 
them  of  other  Protozoa  or  of  higher  forms  of  life  ? 

There  is  no  link  in  geological  fact  to  connect  Eozoon  with 
any  of  the  Mollusks,  Radiates,  or  Crustaceans  of  the  succeed- 
ing Cambrian.  What  may  be  discovered  in  the  future  we  can- 
not conjecture  ;  but  at  present  these  stand  before  us  as  distinct 
creations.  It  would  of  course  be  more  probable  that  Eozoon 
should  be  the  ancestor  of  some  of  the  Foraminifera  of  the 
Primordial  age,  but  strangely  enough  it  is  very  dissimilar  from 
all  these,  except  Cryptozoum  and  some  forms  of  Stromatopora ; 
and  here,  as  already  stated,  the  evidence  of  minute  structure 
fails  to  a  great  extent.  Of  actual  facts,  therefore,  we  have 
none  ;  and  those  evolutionists  who  have  regarded  the  dawn 
animal  as  an  evidence  in  their  favour  have  been  obliged  to  have 
recourse  to  supposition  and  assumption. 

We  may  imagine  Eozoon  itself,  however,  to  state  its  experi- 
ence as  follows  : — "  I,  Eozoon  Canadense,  being  a  creature  of 
low  organization  and  intelligence,  and  of  practical  turn,  am  no 
theorist,  but  have  a  lively  appreciation  of  such  facts  as  I  am 
able  to  perceive.  I  found  myself  growing  upon  the  sea  bottom, 
and  know  not  whence  I  came.  I  grew  and  flourished  for  ages, 
and  found  no  let  or  hindrance  to  my  expansion,  and  abundance 
of  food  was  always  floated  to  me  without  my  having  to  go  in 
search  of  it.  At  length  a  change  came.  Certain  creatures 
with  hard  snouts  and  jaws  began  to  prey  on  me.  Whence 
they  came  I  know  not ;  I  cannot  think  that  they  came  from 
the  germs  which  I  had  dispersed  so  abundantly  throughout  the 
ocean.  Unfortunately,  just  at  the  same  time  lime  became  a 
little  less  abundant  in  the  waters,  perhaps  because  of  the  great 
demands  I  myself  had  made,  and  thus  it  was  not  so  easy  as 
before  to  produce  a  thick  supplemental  skeleton  for  defence. 


164         WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED   FROM   EOZOON 

So  I  had  to  give  way.  I  have  done  my  best  to  avoid  extinc 
tion ;  but  it  is  clear  that  I  must  at  length  be  overcome,  and 
must  either  disappear  or  subside  into  a  humbler  condition,  and 
that  other  creatures  better  provided  for  the  new  conditions  of 
the  world  must  take  my  place."  In  such  terms  we  may  suppose 
that  this  patriarch  of  the  seas  might  tell  his  history,  and  mourn 
his  destiny,  though  he  might  also  congratulate  himself  on  hav- 
ing in  an  honest  way  done  his  duty  and  fulfilled  his  function  in 
the  world,  leaving  it  to  other  and  perhaps  wiser  creatures  to 
dispute  as  to  his  origin  and  fate,  while  perhaps  much  less 
perfectly  fulfilling  the  ends  of  their  own  existence. 

Thus  our  dawn  animal  has  positively  no  story  to  tell  as  to 
its  own  introduction  or  its  transmutation  into  other  forms  of 
existence.  It  leaves  the  mystery  of  creation  where  it  was,  but 
in  connection  .with  the  subsequent  history  of  life  we  can  learn 
from  it  a  little  as  to  the  laws  which  have  governed  the  succes- 
sion of  animals  in  geological  time.  First,  we  may  learn  that 
the  plan  of  creation  has  been  progressive,  that  there  has  been 
an  advance  from  the  few  low  and  generalized  types  of  the 
primaeval  ocean  to  the  more  numerous,  higher,  and  more 
specialized  types  of  more  recent  times.  Secondly,  we  learn  that 
the  lower  types,  when  first  introduced,  and  before  they  were 
subordinated  to  higher  forms  of  life,  existed  in  some  of  their 
grandest  modifications  as  to  form  and  complexity,  and  that 
in  succeeding  ages,  when  higher  types  were  replacing  them, 
they  were  subjected  to  decay  and  degeneracy.  Thirdly,  we 
learn  that  while  the  species  has  a  limited  term  of  existence  in 
geological  time,  any  large  type  of  animal  existence,  like  that  of 
the  Foraminifera  or  Sponges,  for  example,  once  introduced, 
continues  and  finds  throughout  all  the  vicissitudes  of  the  earth 
some  appropriate  residence.  Fourthly,  as  to  the  mode  of  in- 
troduction of  new  types,  or  whether  such  creatures  as  Eozoon 
had  any  direct  connection  with  the  subsequent  introduction 
of  Mollusks,  Worms,  or  Crustaceans,  it  is  altogether  silent,  nor 


WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED   FROM    EOZOON          165 

can  it  predict    anything  as  to  the  order  or  manner  of  their 
introduction. 

Had  we  been  permitted  to  visit  the  Laurentian  seas,  and  to 
study  Eozoon  and  its  contemporary  Protozoa  when  alive,  it  is 
plain  that  we  could  not  have  foreseen  or  predicted  from  the 
consideration  of  such  organisms  the  future  development  of  life. 
No  amount  of  study  of  the  prototypal  Foraminifer  could  have 
led  us  distinctly  to  the  conception  of  even  a  Sponge  or  a  Polyp, 
much  less  of  any  of  the  higher  animals.  Why  is  this  ?  The 
answer  is  that  the  improvement  into  such  higher  types  does  not 
take  place  by  any  change  of  the  elementary  sarcode,  either  in 
those  chemical,  mechanical,  or  vital  properties  which  we  can 
study,  but  in  the  adding  to  it  of  new  structures.  In  the  Sponge, 
which  is  perhaps  the  nearest  type  of  all,  we  have  the  movable 
pulsating  cilium  and  true  animal  cellular  tissue,  and  along  with 
this  the  spicular  or  fibrous  skeleton,  these  structures  leading  to 
an  entire  change  in  the  mode  of  life  and  subsistence.  In  the 
higher  types  of  animals  it  is  the  same.  Even  in  the  highest  we 
have  white  blood  corpuscles  and  germinal  matter,  which,  in  so 
far  as  we  know,  carry  on  no  higher  forms  of  life  than  those  of  an 
Amoeba ;  but  they  are  now  made  subordinate  to  other  kinds  of 
tissues,  of  great  variety  and  complexity,  which  never  have  been 
observed  to  arise  out  of  the  growth  of  any  Protozoon.  There 
would  be  only  a  few  conceivable  inferences  which  the  highest 
finite  intelligence  could  deduce  as  to  the  development  of  future 
and  higher  animals.  He  might  infer  that  the  Foraminiferal 
sarcode,  once  introduced,  might  be  the  substratum  or  founda- 
tion of  other  but  unknown  tissues  in  the  higher  animals,  and 
that  the  Protozoon  type  might  continue  to  subsist  side  by  side 
with  higher  forms  of  living  things,  as  they  were  successively 
introduced.  He  might  also  infer  that  the  elevation  of  the 
animal  kingdom  would  take  place  with  reference  to  those  new 
properties  of  sensation  and  voluntary  motion  in  which  the 
humblest  animals  diverge  from  the  life  of  the  plant 


166         WHAT   MAY   BE   LEARNED   FROM    EOZOON 

It  is  important  that  these  points  should  be  clearly  before  our 
minds,  because  there  has  been  current  of  late  among  natural- 
ists a  loose  way  of  writing  with  reference  to  them,  which  seems 
to  have  imposed  on  many  who  are  not  naturalists.  It  has  been 
said,  for  example,  that  such  an  organism  as  Eozoon  may  include 
potentially  all  the  structures  and  functions  of  the  higher 
animals,  and  that  it  is  possible  that  we  might  be  able  to  infer 
or  calculate  all  these  with  as  much  certainty  as  we  can  calcu- 
late an  eclipse  or  any  other  physical  phenomenon.  Now,  there 
is  not  only  no  foundation  in  fact  for  these  assertions,  but  it  is, 
from  our  present  standpoint,  not  conceivable  that  they  can  ever 
be  realized.  The  laws  of  inorganic  matter  give  no  data  whence 
any  a  priori  deductions  or  calculations  could  be  made  as  to 
the  structure  and  vital  forces  of  the  plant.  The  plant  gives  no 
data  from  which  we  can  calculate  the  functions  of  the  animal. 
The  Protozoon  gives  no  data  from  which  we  can  calculate  the 
specialties  of  the  Mollusk,  the  Articulate,  or  the  Vertebrate. 
Nor,  unhappily,  do  the  present  conditions  of  life  of  themselves 
give  us  any  sure  grounds  for  predicting  the  new  creations  that 
may  be  in  store  for  our  old  planet.  Those  who  think  to  build 
a  philosophy  and  even  a  religion  on  such  data  are  mere 
dreamers,  and  have  no  scientific  basis  for  their  dogmas.  They 
are  as  blind  guides  as  our  primaeval  Protozoon  himself  would 
be  in  matters  whose  real  solution  lies  in  the  harmony  of  our 
own  higher  and  immaterial  nature  with  the  Being  who  is  the 
Author  of  all  life — the  Father  "  from  whom  every  family  in 
heaven  and  earth  is  named." 

REFERENCES: — "Life's  Dawn  on  Earth."     London,   1885.     Specimens 
of  Eozoon  in  the  Peter  Redpath  Museum,  Montreal,  1888. 


THE  APPARITION  AND    SUCCESSION   OF  ANIMAL 
FORMS. 

DEDICATED    TO    THE    MEMORY    OF 

THE    EMINENT    SWISS   AND    AMERICAN    ZOOLOGIST 

LOUIS   AGASSIZ, 

THE  FOUNDER  OF  THE  MODERN  SCHOOL  OF  AMERICAN  BIOLOGY, 
AND  OF 

SIR    RICHARD    OWEN, 

A  GREAT  AND  PHILOSOPHICAL  NATURALIST, 

TO  WHOSE  TEACHING  I  AND  VERY  MANY  OTHERS  OWE  OUR  EARLIEST 

INTRODUCTION   TO  THE   PRINCIPLE   OF   HOMOLOGY 

IN  THE  ANIMAL  KINGDOM. 


MODERN  IDEAS  OF  DERIVATION — DEVELOPMENT  OF  ANIMAL 
FORMS  IN  TIME — VARIOUS  THEORIES  OF  DERIVATION — 
HISTORY  OF  ORGANIC  TYPES — HISTORY  OF  ORGANS- 
TESTIMONY  OF  THE  GEOLOGICAL  RECORD — LAWS  OF  THE 
SUCCESSION — DEVELOPMENT  AND  EVOLUTION — EVOLU- 
TIONIST THEOLOGIANS 


OLD  FORMS  OF  TRILOBITES,  from  the  Lower  Cambrian  (p.  173  et 
Olenelhts  Thompsoni,  Emmons. 
Agnostus  vir,  Matthew. 
Paradoxides  regina,  Matthew. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  APPARITION  AND    SUCCESSION  OF  ANIMAL 
FORMS. 

TIME  was  when  naturalists  were  content  to  take  nature  as 
they  found  it,  without  any  over-curious  inquiries  as  to 
the  origin  of  its  several  parts,  or  the  changes  of  which  they 
might  be  susceptible.  Geology  first  removed  this  pleasant 
state  of  repose,  by  showing  that  all  our  present  species  had 
a  beginning,  and  were  preceded  by  others,  and  these  again 
by  others.  Geologists  were,  however,  too  much  occupied  with 
the  facts  of  the  succession  to  speculate  on  the  ultimate  causes 
of  the  appearance  and  disappearance  of  species,  and  it  re- 
mained for  zoologists  and  botanists,  or  as  some  prefer  to  call 
themselves,  biologists,  to  construct  hypotheses  or  theories  to 
account  for  the  ascertained  fact  that  successive  dynasties  of 
species  have  succeeded  each  other  in  time.  I  do  not  propose 
in  this  paper  so  much  to  deal  with  the  various  doctrines  as  to 
derivation  and  development  now  current,  as  to  ask  the  ques- 
tion, What  do  we  actually  know  as  to  the  origin  and  history  of 
life  on  our  planet  ? 

This  great  question,  confessedly  accompanied  with  many 
difficulties  and  still  waiting  for  its  full  solution,  has  points  of 
intense  interest  both  for  the  Geologist  and  the  Biologist. 
"  If,"  says  the  great  founder  of  the  uniformitarian  School  of 
Geology,  "  the  past  duration  of  the  earth  be  finite,  then  the 
aggregate  of  geological  epochs,  however  numerous,  must  con- 
stitute a  mere  moment  of  the  past,  a  mere  infinitesimal  portion 
of  eternity."  Yet  to  our  limited  vision,  the  origin  of  life  fades 


I7O  THE   SUCCESSION   OF   ANIMAL   FORMS 

away  in  the  almost  illimitable  depths  of  past  time,  and  we  are 
ready  to  despair  of  ever  reaching,  by  any  process  of  discovery, 
to  its  first  steps  of  progress.  At  what  time  did  life  begin  ?  In 
what  form  did  dead  matter  first  assume  or  receive  those 
mysterious  functions  of  growth,  reproduction  and  sensation? 
Only  when  we  picture  to  ourselves  an  absolutely  lifeless  world, 
destitute  of  any  germ  of  life  or  organization,  can  we  realize 
the  magnitude  of  these  questions,  and  perceive  how  necessary 
it  is  to  limit  their  scope  if  we  would  hope  for  any  satisfactory 
answer. 

We  may  here  dismiss  altogether  that  form  in  which  these 
questions  present  themselves  to  the  biologist,  when  he  experi- 
ments as  to  the  evolution  of  living  forms  from  dead  liquids  or 
solids  attacking  the  unsolved  problem  of  spontaneous  genera- 
tion. Nor  need  we  enter  on  the  vast  field  of  discussion  as  to 
modern  animals  and  plants  opened  up  by  Darwin  and  others. 
I  shall  confine  myself  altogether  to  that  historical  or  palceonto- 
logical  aspect  in  which  life  presents  itself  when  we  study  the 
fossil  remains  entombed  in  the  sediments  of  the  earth's  crust, 
and  which  will  enable  me  at  least  to  show  why  some  students 
of  fossils  hesitate  to  give  in  their  adhesion  to  any  of  the  cur- 
rent notions  as  to  the  origin  of  species.  It  will  also  be  desir- 
able to  avoid,  as  far  as  possible,  the  use  of  the  term  "evolution," 
as  this  has  recently  been  employed  in  so  many  senses,  whether 
of  development  or  causation,  as  to  have  become  nearly  useless 
for  any  scientific  purpose ;  and  that  when  I  speak  of  creation 
of  species,  the  term  is  to  be  understood  not  in  the  arbitrary 
sense  forced  on  it  by  some  modern  writers,  but  as  indicating 
the  continuous  introduction  of  new  forms  of  life  under  definite 
laws,  but  by  a  power  not  emanating  from  within  themselves, 
nor  from  the  inanimate  nature  surrounding  them.1 

1  The  terms  Derivation,  Development  and  Causation  have  clear  and 
definite  meanings,  and  it  is  preferable,  wherever  possible,  to  use  one  or  other 
of  these. 


THE   SUCCESSION   OF  ANIMAL   FORMS  i;i 

If  we  were  to  follow  the  guidance  of  those  curious  analogies 
which  present  themselves  when  we  consider  the  growth  of  the 
individual  plant  or  animal  from  the  spore  or  the  ovum,  and  the 
development  of  vegetable  and  animal  life  in  geological  time — 
analogies  which,  however,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  can  have 
no  scientific  value  whatever,  inasmuch  as  that  similarity  of 
conditions  which  alone  can  give  force  to  reasoning  from  an- 
alogy in  matters  of  science,  is  wholly  wanting — we  should  ex- 
pect to  find  in  the  oldest  rocks  embryonic  forms  alone,  but  of 
course  embryonic  forms  suited  to  exist  and  reproduce  them- 
selves independently.1 

I  need  not  say  to  palaeontologists  that  this  is  not  what  we 
actually  find  in  the  primordial  rocks.  I  need  but  to  remind 
them  of  the  early  and  remarkable  development  of  such  forms 
as  the  Trilobites,  the  Lingulidae  and  the  Pteropods,  all  of  them 
highly  complex  and  specialized  types,  and  remote  from  the 
embryonic  stages  of  the  groups  to  which  they  severally  belong. 
In  the  case  of  the  Trilobites,  one  need  merely  consider  the 
beautiful  symmetry  of  their  parts,  both  transversely  and  longi- 
tudinally, their  division  into  distinct  regions,  the  necessary  com- 
plexity of  their  muscular  and  nervous  systems,  their  highly 
complex  visual  organs,  the  superficial  ornamentation  and  micro- 
scopic structure  of  their  crusts,  their  advanced  position  among 
Crustaceans,  indicated  by  their  strong  affinity  with  the  Arach- 
nidans  or  spiders  and  scorpions.  (See  figures  prefixed.) 

1  I  may  be  pardoned  for  taking  an  example  of  the  confusion  of  thought 
which  this  mode  of  reasoning  has  introduced  into  Biology  from  a  clever 
article  in  the  Contemporary  written  by  a  very  able  and  much-esteemed 
biologist.  He  says :  "  The  morphological  distance  between  a  newly  hatched 
frog's  tadpole  and  the  adult  frog  is  almost  as  great  as  that  between  the 
adult  lancelet  and  the  newly  hatched  larvae  of  the  lamprey."  The  "mor- 
phological distance"  truly,  but  what  of  the  physiological  distance  between 
the  young  and  adult  of  the  same  animal  and  two  adult  animals  between 
which  is  placed  the  great  gulf  of  specific  and  generic  diversity  which  with- 
in human  experience  neither  has  been  known  to  pass  ? 


I  72  THE   SUCCESSION   OF   ANIMAL   FORMS 


All  these  characters  give  them  an  aspect  far  from  embryonic, 
while,  as  Barrande  has  pointed  out,  this  advanced  position  of 
the  group  has  its  significance  greatly  strengthened  by  the  fact 
that  in  early  primordial  times  we  have  to  deal  not  with  one 
species,  but  with  a  vast  and  highly  differentiated  group,  embrac- 
ing forms  of  many  and  varied  subordinate  types.  As  we  shall 
see,  these  and  other  early  animals  may  be  regarded  as  of 
generalized  types,  but  not  as  embryonic.  Here,  then,  meets  us 
at  the  outset  the  fact  that  in  as  far  as  the  great  groups  of  annu- 
lose  and  molluscous  animals  are  concerned,  we  can  trace  these 
back  no  farther  than  to  a  period  in  which  they  appear  already 
highly  advanced,  much  specialized  and  represented  by  many 
diverse  forms.  Either,  therefore,  these  great  groups  came  in  on 
this  high  initial  plane,  or  we  have  scarcely  reached  half  way 
back  in  the  life-history  of  our  planet. 

We  have,  here,  however,  by  this  one  consideration,  attained 
at  once  to  two  great  and  dominant  laws  regulating  the  his- . 
tory  of  life.  First,  the  law  of  continuity,  whereby  new  forms 
come  in  successively,  throughout  geological  time,  though, 
as  we  shall  see,  with  periods  of  greater  or  less  frequency. 
Secondly,  the  law  of  specialization  of  types,  whereby  general- 
ized forms  are  succeeded  by  those  more  special,  and  this  pro- 
bably connected  with  the  growing  specialization  of  the  inorganic 
world.  It  is  this  second  law  which  causes  the  parallelism 
between  the  history  of  successive  species  and  that  of  the 
embryo. 

We  have  already  considered  the  claims  which  Eozoon  and 
its  contemporaries  may  urge  to  recognition,  as  beginnings  of 
life ;  but  when  we  ascend  from  the  Laurentian  beds,  we  find 
ourselves  in  a  barren  series  of  conglomerates,  sandstones,  and 
other  rocks,  indicating  shore  rather  than  sea  conditions,  and 
remarkably  destitute  of  indications  of  life.  These  are  the 
Huronian  beds,  and  possibly  other  series  associated  with  them. 
They  have  afforded  spicules  of  sponges,  casts  of  burrows  of 


THE   SUCCESSION   OF   ANIMAL   FORMS 


worms,  obscure  forms,  which  may  represent  crustaceans  or 
mollusks,  markings  of  unknown  origin,  and  some  laminated 
forms  which  may  perhaps  represent  remains  of  Eozoon,  though 
their  structures  are  imperfectly  preserved.  These  are  sufficient 
to  show  that  marine  life  continued  in  some  forms,  and  to  en- 
courage the  hope  that  a  rich  pre-Cambrian  fauna  may  yet  be 
discovered. 

But  let  us  leave  for  the  present  the  somewhat  isolated  case 
of  Eozoon,  and  the  few  scattered  forms  of  the  Huronian,  and 
go  on  farther  to  the  early  Cambrian  fauna.  This  is  graphi- 
cally presented  to  us  in  the  sections  in  South  Wales,  as  de- 
scribed by  Hicks.  Here  we  find  a  nucleus  of  ancient  rocks, 
supposed  to  be  Laurentian,  though  in  mineral  character  more 
nearly  akin  to  the  Huronian,  but  which  have  hitherto  afforded 
no  trace  of  fossils.  Resting  unconformably  on  these  is  a 
series  of  slates  and  sandstones,  regarded  as  Lower  Cambrian, 
the  Caerfai  group  of  Hicks,  and  which  are  the  earliest  holding 
organic  remains.  The  lowest  bed  which  contains  indications 
of  life  is  a  red  shale  near  the  base  of  the  series,  which  holds  a 
few  organic  remains.  The  species  are  a  Lingulella^  worm  bur- 
rows and  a  Trilobite.1  Supposing  these  to  be  all,  it  is  remark- 
able that  we  have  no  Protozoa  or  Corals  or  Echinoderms,  and 
that  the  types  of  Brachiopods  and  Crustaceans  are  of  compara- 
tively modern  affinities.  Passing  upward  through  1,000  feet 
of  barren  sandstone  and  shale,  we  reach  a  zone  in  which 
many  Trilobites  of  at  least  five  genera  are  found,  along  with 
Pteropods,  Brachiopods  and  Sponges.  Thus  it  is  that  life 
comes  in  at  the  base  of  the  Cambrian  in  Wales,  and  it  may  be 
regarded  as  a  fair  specimen  of  the  facts  as  they  appear  in  the 
earlier  fossiliferous  beds  succeeding  the  Laurentian.  Taking 
the  first  of  these  groups  of  fossils,  we  may  recognise  in  the 
worms  representatives  of  those  that  still  haunt  our  shores,  in 
the  Trilobite  a  Crustacean  or  Arachnoid  of  no  mean  grade. 
1  Probably  of  the  genus  Olenellus. 


174  THE   SUCCESSION   OF   ANIMAL   FORMS 

The  Linguklla,  whether  we  regard  them  as  molluscoids,  or, 
with  Professor  Morse,  as  singularly  specialized  worms,  represent 
a  peculiar  and  distinct  type,  handed  down,  through  all  the 
vicissitudes  of  the  geological  ages,  to  the  present  day.  Had 
the  Primordial  life  begun  with  species  altogether  inscrutable 
and  unexampled  in  succeeding  ages,  this  would  no  doubt  have 
been  mysterious ;  but  next  to  this  is  the  mystery  of  the  oldest 
forms  of  life  being  also  among  the  newest.  One  great  fact 
shines  here  with  the  clearness  of  noon-day.  Whatever  the 
origin  of  these  creatures,  they  represent  families  which  have 
endured  till  now  in  the  struggle  for  existence  without  either 
elevation  or  degradation.  Here,  again,  we  may  formulate  an- 
other creative  law.  In  every  great  group  there  are  some  forms 
much  more  capable  of  long  continuance  than  others.  Lingula 
among  the  Brachiopods  is  a  marked  instance. 

But  when,  with  Hicks,  we  surmount  the  mass  of  barren  beds 
underlying  these  remains,  which  from  its  unfossiliferous  charac- 
ter is  probably  a  somewhat  rapid  deposit  of  Arctic  mud,  like 
that  which  in  all  geological  time  has  constituted  the  rough  fill- 
ing of  our  continental  formations,  and  have  suddenly  sprung 
upon  us  many  genera  of  Trilobites,  including  the  fewest-jointed 
and  most  many-jointed,  the  smallest  and  the  largest  of  their 
race,  our  astonishment  must  increase,  till  we  recognise  the  fact 
that  we  are  now  in  the  presence  of  another  great  law  of  creation, 
which  provides  that  every  new  type  shall  be  rapidly  extended 
to  the  extreme  limits  of  its  power  of  adaptation. 

That  this  is  not  merely  local  is  evidenced  by  the  researches 
of  Matthew  and  Walcott  in  the  oldest  Cambrian  of  America, 
where  a  similar  succession  occurs,  but  with  this  difference,  that 
in  the  wider  area  presented  by  the  American  continent  we  find 
a  greater  variety  of  forms  of  life.  Walcott  records  up  to  1892 
no  less  than  67  genera  and  165  species  in  the  oldest  Cambrian 
of  America.  These  include  representatives  of  the  Sponges, 
Hydroids,  Corals,  Echinoderms,  Worms,  Brachiopods,  Bivalve 


THE   SUCCESSION    OF   ANIMAL   FORMS  175 

and  Univalve  Mollusks  and  Crustaceans,  or  in  other  words,  all 
the  leading  groups  of  invertebrate  animals  that  we  find  in  the 
sea  at  present.  Of  these  the  dominant  group  is  the  Crustaceans, 
including  Trilobites,  numbering  one-third  of  the  whole  ;  and 
these  with  the  univalve  Mollusks  and  the  Brachiopods  constitute 
the  majority,  the  other  groups  having  comparatively  few  species. 
What  a  marvellous  incoming  of  life  is  here  !  Walcott  may 
well  say  that  on  the  theory  of  gradual  development  we  must 
suppose  that  life  existed  at  a  period  far  before  the  Cambrian — 
as  far,  indeed,  as  the  Cambrian  is  before  our  own  time.  But 
this  would  mean  that  we  know  only  half  of  the  history  of  life  ; 
and  perhaps  it  is  more  reasonable  to  suppose  that  when  the 
conditions  became  favourable,  it  came  in  with  a  rush. 

Before  considering  the  other  laws  that  may  be  inferred  from 
these  facts,  however,  let  us  in  imagination  transfer  ourselves 
back  to  the  Primordial  age,  and  suppose  that  we  have  in  our 
hands  a  living  specimen  of  one  of  the  larger  Trilobites,  recently 
taken  from  the  sea,  flapping  vigorously  its  great  tail,  and  full  of 
life  and  energy  ;  an  animal  larger  and  heavier  than  the  modern 
king-crab  of  our  shores,  furnished  with  all  the  complexity  of 
external  parts  for  which  the  crustaceans  are  so  remarkable,  and 
no  doubt  with  instincts  and  feelings  and  modes  of  action  as  pro- 
nounced as  those  of  its  modern  allies,  and,  if  Woodward's  views 
are  correct,  on  a  higher  plane  of  rank  than  the  king-crab  itself, 
inasmuch  as  it  is  a  composite  type  connecting  Limuli  with 
Isopods,  and  even  with  scorpions.  We  have  obviously  here, 
in  the  appearance  of  this  great  Crustacean  or  Arachnoid,  a  repe- 
tition of  the  facts  which  we  met  with  in  Eozoon  ;  but  how  vast 
the  interval  between  them  in  geological  time,  and  in  zoological 
rank  !  Standing  in  the  presence  of  this  testimony,  I  think  it 
is  only  right  to  say  that  we  possess  no  causal  solution  of  the 
appearance  of  these  early  forms  of  life ;  but  in  tracing  them 
and  their  successors  upward  through  the  succeeding  ages,  we 
may  hope  at  least  to  reach  some  expressions  of  the  laws  of 
9* 


1/6  THE  SUCCESSION   OF  ANIMAL   FORMS 

their  succession,  in  possession  of  which  we  may  return  to 
attack  the  mystery  of  their  origin. 

First,  it  must  strike  every  observer  that  there  is  a  great  same- 
ness of  plan  throughout  the  whole  history  of  marine  inverte- 
brate life.  If  we  turn  over  the  pages  of  an  illustrated  textbook 
of  geology,  or  examine  the  cases  or  drawers  of  a  collection  of 
fossils,  we  shall  find  extending  through  every  succeeding  for- 
mation, representative  forms  of  Crustaceans,  Mollusks,  Corals, 
etc.,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  indicate  that  in  each  successive 
period  there  has  been  a  reproduction  of  the  same  type  with 
modifications ;  and  if  the  series  is  not  continuous,  this  appears 
to  be  due  rather  to  abrupt  physical  changes ;  since  sometimes, 
where  two  formations  pass  into  each  other,  we  find  a  gradual 
change  in  the  fossils  by  the  dropping  out  and  introduction  of 
species  one  by  one.  Thus,  in  the  whole  of  the  great  Palaeozoic 
Period,  both  in  its  Fauna  and  Flora,  we  have  a  continuity  and 
similarity  of  a  most  marked  character. 

It  is  evident  that  there  is  presented  to  us  in  this  similarity 
of  the  forms  of  successive  faunas  and  floras,  a  phenomenon 
which  deserves  very  careful  sifting  as  to  the  question  of  identity 
or  diversity  of  species.  The  data  for  its  comprehension  must 
be  obtained  by  careful  study  of  the  series  of  closely  allied 
forms  occurring  in  successive  formations,  and  the  great  and 
undisturbed  areas  of  the  older  rocks  in  America  seem  to  give 
special  facilities  for  this,  which  should  be  worked,  not  in  the 
direction  of  constituting  new  species  for  every  slightly  diver- 
gent form,  but  in  striving  to  group  these  forms  into  large 
specific  types  l 

There  is  nothing  to  preclude  the  supposition  that  some  of 
the  groups  mentioned  in  the  note  are  really  specific  types,  with 

1  The  Rynchonellse  of  the  type  of  K.  plena,  the  Orthids,  of  the  type  of 
O.  testudinaria,  the  Strophomenae  of  the  types  of  S.  alternata  and  S.  Rhom- 
boidalis,  the  Atrypse  of  the  type  of  A.  reticularis,  furnish  cases  in  point 
among  the  Brachiopods. 


THE   SUCCESSION    OF   ANIMAL   FORMS  1/7 

numerous  race  modifications.  My  own  provisional  conclusion, 
based  on  the  study  of  Palaeozoic  plants,  is  that  the  general  law 
will  be  found  to  be  the  existence  of  distinct  specific  types,  in- 
dependent of  each  other,  but  liable  in  geological  time  to  a 
great  many  modifications,  which  have  often  been  regarded  as 
distinct  species.1 

While  this  unity  of  successive  faunae  at  first  sight  presents 
an  appearance  of  hereditary  succession,  it  loses  much  of  this 
character  when  we  consider  the  number  of  new  types  introduced 
without  apparent  predecessors,  the  necessity  that  there  should 
be  similarity  of  type  in  successive  faunae  on  any  hypothesis  of 
a  continuous  plan  ;  and  above  all,  the  fact  that  the  recurrence 
of  representative  species  or  races  in  large  proportion  marks 
times  of  decadence  rather  than  of  expansion  in  the  types  to 
which  they  belong.  To  turn  to  another  period,  this  is  very 
manifest  in  that  singular  resemblance  which  obtains  between 
the  modern  mammals  of  South  America  and  Australia,  and 
their  immediate  fossil  predecessors — the  phenomenon  being 
here  manifestly  that  of  decadence  of  large  and  abundant 
species  into  a  few  depauperated  representatives.  This  will  be 
found  to  be  a  very  general  law,  elevation  being  accompanied 
by  the  apparent  abrupt  appearance  of  new  types  and  decadence 
by  the  apparent  continuation  of  old  species,  or  modifications 
of  them. 

This  resemblance  with  difference  in  successive  faunas  also 
connects  itself  very  directly  with  the  successive  elevations  and 
depressions  of  our  continental  plateaus  in  geological  time. 
Every  great  Palaeozoic  limestone,  for  example,  indicates  a 
depression  with  succeeding  elevation.  On  each  elevation 
marine  animals  were  driven  back  into  the  ocean,  and  on  each 
depression  swarmed  in  over  the  land,  reinforced  by  new 
species,  either  then  introduced,  or  derived  by  migration  from 
other  localities.  In  like  manner,  on  every  depression,  land 
*  "Geological  History  of  Plants." 


I7&  THE    SUCCESSION   OF   ANIMAL   FORMS 

plants  and  animals  were  driven  in  upon  insular  areas,  and  on 
re-elevation,  again  spread  themselves  widely.  Now  I  think  it 
will  be  found  to  be  a  law  here  that  periods  of  expansion  were 
eminently  those  of  introduction  of  new  specific  types,  and 
periods  of  contraction  those  of  extinction,  and  also  of  continu- 
ance of  old  types  under  new  varietal  forms. 

It  must  also  be  noticed  that  all  the  leading  types  of  in- 
vertebrate life  were  early  introduced,  that  change  within  these 
was  necessarily  limited,  and  that  elevation  could  take  place 
mainly  by  the  introduction  of  the  vertebrate  orders.  So  in 
plants,  Cryptogams  early  attained  their  maximum  as  well  as 
Gymnosperms,  and  elevation  occurred  in  the  introduction  of 
Phsenogams,  and  this  not  piecemeal,  but  as  we  shall  see  in 
a  succeeding  chapter,  in  great  force  at  once. 

We  may  further  remark  the  simultaneous  appearance  of  like 
types  of  life  in  one  and  the  same  geological  period,  over  widely 
separated  regions  of  the  earth's  surface.  This  strikes  us  es- 
pecially in  the  comparatively  simple  and  homogeneous  life- 
dynasties  of  the  Palaeozoic,  when,  for  example,  we  find  the  same 
types  of  Silurian  Graptolites,  Trilobites  and  Brachiopods  ap- 
pearing simultaneously  in  Australia,  America  and  Europe. 
Perhaps  in  no  department  is  it  more  impressive  than  in  the 
introduction  of  the  Devonian  and  Carboniferous  Ages  of  that 
grand  cryptogamous  and  gymnospermous  flora  which  ranges 
from  Brazil  to  Spitzbergen,  and  from  Australia  to  Scotland, 
accompanied  in  all  by  the  same  groups  of  marine  invertebrates. 
Such  facts  may  depend  either  on  that  long  life  of  specific 
types  which  gives  them  ample  time  to  spread  to  all  possible 
habitats,  before  their  extinction,  or  on  some  general  law  where- 
by the  conditions  suitable  to  similar  types  of  life  emerge  at  one 
time  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  Both  causes  may  be  influential, 
as  the  one  does  not  exclude  the  other,  and  there  is  reason  to 
believe  that  both  are  natural  facts.  Should  it  be  ultimately 
proved  that  species  allied  and  representative,  but  distinct  in 


THE   SUCCESSION   OF   ANIMAL   FORMS  1/9 

origin,  come  into  being  simultaneously  everywhere,  we  shall 
arrive  at  one  of  the  laws  of  creation,  and  one  probably  con- 
nected with  the  gradual  change  of  the  physical  conditions  of 
the  world. 

Another  general  truth,  obvious  from  the  facts  which  have 
been  already  collected,  is  the  periodicity  of  introduction  of 
species.  They  come  in  by  bursts  or  flood  tides  at  particular 
points  of  time,  while  these  great  life  waves  are  followed  and 
preceded  by  times  of  ebb  in  which  little  that  is  new  is  being 
produced.  We  labour  in  our  investigation  of  this  matter 
under  the  disadvantage  that  the  modern  period  is  evidently 
one  of  the  times  of  pause  in  the  creative  work.  Had  our  time 
been  that  of  the  early  Tertiary  or  early  Mesozoic,  our  views  as 
to  the  question  of  origin  of  species  might  have  been  very  dif- 
ferent. It  is  a  striking  fact,  in  illustration  of  this,  that  since 
the  glacial  age  no  new  species  of  mammal,  except,  possibly,  man 
himself,  can  be  proved  to  have  originated  on  our  continents, 
while  a  great  number  of  large  and  conspicuous  forms  have 
disappeared.  It  is  possible  that  the  proximate  or  secondary 
causes  of  the  ebb  and  flow  of  life  production  may  be  in  part  at 
least  physical,  but  other  and  more  important  efficient  causes 
may  be  behind  these.  In  any  case  these  undulations  in  the 
history  of  life  are  in '  harmony  with  much  that  we  see  in  other 
departments  of  nature. 

It  results  from  the  above  and  the  immediately  preceding 
statement,  that  specific  and  generic  types  enter  on  the  stage  in 
great  force,  and  gradually  taper  off  towards  extinction.  They 
should  so  appear  in  the  geological  diagrams  made  to  illustrate 
the  succession  of  living  beings.  This  applies  even  to  those 
forms  of  life  which  come  in  with  fewest  species  and  under  the 
most  humble  guise.  What  a  remarkable  swarming,  for  ex- 
ample, there  must  have  been  of  Marsupial  Mammals  in  the 
early  Mesozoic,  and  in  the  Coal  formation  the  only  known 
Pulmonate  snails,  five  or  six  in  number,  belong  to  four  generic 


180  THE   SUCCESSION   OF   ANIMAL   FORMS 

types,  while  the  Myriapods  and  Amphibians  alike  appear  in  a 
crowd  of  generic  forms. 

I  have  already  referred  to  the  permanence  of  species  in 
geological  time.  We  may  now  place  this  in  connection  with 
the  law  of  rapid  origination  and  more  or  less  continuous 
transmission  of  varietal  forms.  A  good  illustration  will  be 
afforded  by  a  group  of  species  with  which  I  am  very  familiar, 
that  which  came  into  our  seas  at  the  beginning  of  the  Glacial 
age,  and  still  exists.  With  regard  to  their  permanence,  it  can 
be  affirmed  that  the  shells  now  elevated  in  Wales  to  1,200, 
and  in  Canada  to  600  feet  above  the  sea,  and  which  lived  be- 
fore the  last  great  revolution  of  our  continents — a  period  very 
remote  as  compared  with  human  history — differ  in  no  tittle 
from  their  modern  successors  after  hundreds  or  thousands  of 
generations.  It  can  also  be  affirmed  that  the  more  variable 
species  appear  under  precisely  the  same  varietal  forms  then  as 
now,  though  these  varieties  have  changed  much  in  their  local 
distribution.  The  real  import  of  these  statements,  which  might 
also  be  made  with  regard  to  other  groups,  well  known  to  palae- 
ontologists, is  of  so  great  significance  that  it  can  be  realized 
only  after  we  have  thought  of  the  vast  time  and  numerous 
changes  through  which  these  humble  creatures  have  survived. 
I  may  call  in  evidence  here  a  familiar  New  England  animal, 
the  common  sand  clam,  Mya  arenaria,  and  its  relative  Mya 
truncata,  the  short  sand  clam,  which  now  inhabit  together  all 
the  northern  seas ;  for  the  Pacific  specimens,  from  Japan  and 
California,  though  differently  named,  are  undoubtedly  the  same. 
Mya  truncata  appears  in  Europe  in  the  Coralline  Crag,  and 
was  followed  by  M.  arenaria  in  the  Red  Crag.  Both  shells 
occur  in  the  Pleistocene  of  America,  and  their  several  varietal 
forms  had  already  developed  themselves  in  the  Crag,  and  re- 
main the  same  to-day ;  so  that  these  humble  mollusks,  littoral 
in  their  habits,  and  subjected  to  a  great  variety  of  conditions, 
have  continued  for  a  very  long  period  to  construct  their  shells 


THE   SUCCESSION   OF   ANIMAL   FORMS  l8l 

precisely  as  at  present ;  while  in  many  places,  as  on  the  Lower 
St.  Lawrence,  we  find  them  living  together  on  the  same  banks, 
and  yet  preserving  their  distinctness.1  Nor  are  there  any  in- 
dications of  a  transition  between  the  two  species.  I  might 
make  similar  statements  with  regard  to  the  Astartes,  Bucci- 
nums  and  Tellinae  of  the  drift,  and  could  illustrate  them  by 
extensive  series  of  specimens  from  my  own  collections. 

Another  curious  illustration  is  that  presented  by  the  Tertiary 
and  modern  faunae  of  some  oceanic  islands  far  separated  from 
the  continents.  In  Madeira  and  Porto  Santo,  for  example, 
according  to  Lyell,  we  have  fifty-six  species  of  land  shells  in 
the  former,  and  forty-two  in  the  latter,  only  twelve  being  com- 
mon to  the  two,  though  these  islands  are  only  thirty  miles 
apart.  Now  in  the  Pliocene  strata  of  Madeira  and  Porto 
Santo  we  find  thirty  six  species  in  the  former,  and  thirty-five  in 
the  latter,  of  which  only  eight  per  cent,  are  extinct,  and  yet 
only  eight  are  common  to  the  two  islands.  Further,  there 
seem  to  be  no  transitional  forms  connecting  the  species,  and 
of  some  of  them  the  same  varieties  existed  in  the  Pliocene  as 
now.  The  main  difference  in  time  is  the  extinction  of  some 
species  and  the  introduction  of  others  without  known  connect- 
ing links,  and  the  fact  that  some  species,  plentiful  in  the 
Pliocene,  are  rare  now,  and  vice  versd.  All  these  shells  differ 
from  those  of  modern  Europe,  but  some  of  them  are  allied  to 
Miocene  species  of  that  continent.  Here  we  have  a  case  of 
continued  existence  of  the  same  forms,  and  in  circumstances 
which,  the  more  we  think  of  them,  the  more  do  they  defy  all 
our  existing  theories  as  to  specific  origins. 

Perhaps  some  of  the  most  remarkable  facts  in  connection 
with  the  permanence  of  varietal  forms  of  species  are  those 
furnished  by  that  magnificent  flora  which  burst  in  all  its 
majesty  on  the  American  continent  in  the  Cretaceous  period, 
and  still  survives  among  us,  even  in  some  of  its  specific  types. 
1  Paper  in  Record  of  Science,  on  Shells  at  Little  Metis. 


1 82  THE   SUCCESSION   OF   ANIMAL   FORMS 


I  say  survives ;  for  we  have  but  a  remnant  of  its  forms  living, 
and  comparatively  little  that  is  new  has  probably  been  added 
since.  The  confusion  which  has  obtained  as  to  the  age  of 
this  flora,  and  its  mistaken  reference  to  the  Miocene  Tertiary, 
have  arisen  in  part  from  the  fact  that  this  modern  flora  was  in 
its  earlier  times  contemporary  with  Cretaceous  animals,  and 
survived  the  gradual  change  from  the  animal  life  of  the  Creta- 
ceous down  to  that  of  the  Eocene,  and  even  of  the  Miocene. 
In  collections  of  these  plants,  from  what  may  be  termed  beds 
of  transition  from  the  Cretaceous  to  the  Tertiary,  we  find  many 
plants  of  modern  species,  or  so  closely  related  that  they  may  be 
mere  varietal  forms.  Some  of  these  will  be  mentioned  in  the 
next  paper,  and  they  show  that  modern  plants,  some  of  them 
small  and  insignificant,  others  of  gigantic  size,  reach  back  to  a 
time  when  the  Mesozoic  Dinosaurs  were  becoming  extinct,  and 
the  earliest  Placental  mammals  being  introduced.  Shall  we 
say  that  these  plants  have  propagated  themselves  unchanged 
for  half  a  million  of  years,  or  more  ? 1 

Take  from  the  western  Mesozoic  a  contrasting  yet  illustrative 
fact.  In  the  lowest  Cretaceous  rocks  of  Queen  Charlotte's 
Island,  Mr.  Richardson  and  Dr.  G.  M.  Dawson  find  Ammon- 
ites and  allied  Cephalopods  similar  in  many  respects  to  those 
discovered  farther  south  by  the  California  Survey,  and  Mr. 
Whiteaves  finds  that  some  of  them  are  apparently  not  distinct 
from  species  described  by  the  Palaeontologists  of  the  Geological 
Survey  of  British  India.  On  both  sides  of  the  Pacific  these 
shells  lie  entombed  in  solid  rock,  and  the  Pacific  rolls  between, 
as  of  yore.  Yet  these  species,  genera,  and  even  families  are 
all  extinct — why,  no  man  can  tell,  while  land  plants  that  must 
have  come  in  while  the  survivors  of  these  Cephalopods  still 
lived,  reach  down  to  the  present.  How  mysterious  is  all  this, 

1  Among  these  are  living  species  of  ferns,  one  of  them  our  common 
"  Sensitive  Fern,"  of  Eastern  America,  two  species  of  Hazel  still  extant, 
and  Sequoias  or  giant  pines,  like  those  now  surviving  in  California. 


THE   SUCCESSION    OF   ANIMAL   FORMS  183 


and  how  strongly  does  it  show  the  independence  in  some  sense 
of  merely  physical  agencies  on  the  part  of  the  manifestations 
of  life  ! 

We  have  naturally  been  occupied  hitherto  with  the  lower 
tribes  of  animals  and  with  plant  life,  because  these  are  pre- 
dominant in  the  early  ages  of  the  earth.  Let  us  turn  now  to 
the  history  of  vertebrate  or  back-boned  animals,  which  presents 
some  peculiarities  special  to  itself.  Many  years  ago  Pander l 
described  and  figured  from  the  Cambro-silurian  of  Russia,  a 
number  of  minute  teeth,  some  conical  and  some  comb-like, 
which  he  referred  to  fishes,  and  to  that  low  form  of  the  fish 
type  represented  by  the  modern  lampreys.  Much  doubt  was 
thrown  on  this  determination,  more  especially  as  the  teeth 
seemed  to  be  composed  not  of  bone  earth,  but  of  carbonate  of 
lime,  and  it  was  suggested  that  they  may  have  belonged  to 
marine  worms,  or  to  the  lingual  ribbons  of  Gastropod  mol- 
lusks.  Some  confirmatory  evidence  seems  to  have  been  sup- 
plied by  the  discovery  of  great  numbers  of  similar  forms  in  the 
shales  of  the  coal  formation  of  Ohio,  by  the  late  Dr.  Newberry. 
I  have  had  an  opportunity  to  examine  these,  and  find  that  they 
consist  of  calcium  phosphate,2  or  bone  earth,  and  that  their 
microscopic  structure  is  not  dissimilar  from  that  of  the  teeth 
of  some  of  the  smaller  sharks  (Diplodus)  found  with  them.  I 
have  therefore  been  inclined  to  believe  that  there  may  have 
already  been,  even  in  the  Cambrian  or  Lower  Silurian  seas, 
true  fishes,  related  partly  to  the  lampreys  and  partly  to  sharks ; 
so  that  the  history  of  the  back-boned  animals  may  have  gone 
nearly  as  far  back  as  that  of  their  humbler  relations.  This 
conjecture  has  recently  received  further  support  from  the 
discovery  in  rocks  of  Lower  Silurian  age,  in  Colorada  of  a 
veritable  bone  bed,  rich  in  fragmentary  remains  of  fishes. 

1  More    recently    Rohan  has   described  conical   teeth   (St.   Petersburg 
Academy,  1889),  but  I  have  not  seen  his  paper. 

2  Analysis  of  Dr.  B.  J.  Harrington. 


184  THE   SUCCESSION   OF   ANIMAL   FORMS 

They  are  unfortunately  so  comminuted  as  to  resemble  the 
debris  of  the  food  of  some  larger  animal ;  but  in  so  far  as  I  can 
judge  from  specimens  kindly  given  to  me,1  they  resemble  the 
bony  coverings  of  some  of  the  familiar  fishes  of  the  Devonian. 
Thus  they  would  indicate,  with  Pander's  and  Rohan's  speci- 
mens, already  two  distinct  types  of  fishes  as  existing  almost  as 
early  as  the  higher  invertebrates  of  the  sea. 

In  the  Silurian  (Upper  Silurian  of  Murchison)  we  have  un- 
doubted evidence  of  the  same  kind,  on  both  sides  of  the 
Atlantic,  in  teeth  and  spines  of  sharks,  and  the  plates  which 
protected  the  heads  and  bodies  of  the  plate-covered  fishes 
(Placo-ganoids).  But  it  is  in  the  Devonian  that  these  types 
appear  to  culminate,  and  we  have  added  to  them  that  remark- 
able type  of  "  lung  fish,"  as  the  Germans  call  them,  represented 
in  our  modern  world  only  by  the  curious  and  exceptional 
Burramunda  of  Australia,  and  the  mud  fishes  of  Africa  and 
South  America,3  creatures  which  show,  as  do  some  of  the 
mailed  fishes,  or  ganoids,  of  equally  great  age,  the  intermediate 
stages  between  a  swimming  bladder  and  a  lung,  and  thus  ap- 
proach nearer  to  the  air-breathing  animals  than  any  other  fishes. 

Many  years  ago,  in  "  Acadian  Geology,"  I  referred  to  the 
probability  that  the  mailed  and  lung  fishes  of  the  Devonian  and 
Carboniferous  possessed  airb  ladders  so  constructed  as  to 
enable  them  to  breathe  air,  as  is  the  case  with  their  modern 
representatives.  In  the  modem  species  this,  no  doubt,  enables 
them  to  haunt  badly  aerated  waters,  in  swamps  and  sluggish 
streams,  and  in  some  cases  even  to  survive  when  the  water 
in  which  they  live  is  dried  up.  In  the  Carboniferous  and 
Devonian  it  may  have  served  a  similar  purpose,  fitting  them 
to  inhabit  the  lagoons  and  creeks  of  the  coal  swamps,  the 
water  of  which  must  often  have  been  badly  aerated.  It  makes 
against  this  that  some  sharks  followed  them  into  these  waters, 

1  By  Mr.  F.  D.  Adams  and  Dr.  Walcott. 
*  Ceratodus,  Lipidosiren,  Protopterus. 


Two  PRIMITIVE  VKRTEBRATES,  Palaospondylus  (enlarged)  and 

Pterichthys  (reduced), 
(After  Woodward,  with  some  modifications.) 


THE   SUCCESSION   OF   ANIMAL   FORMS  185 


and  the  modern  sharks  have  no  swim-bladders.  Possibly, 
however,  the  sharks  habitually  haunted  the  open  sea,  and 
only  made  occasional  raids  on  the  dangerous  waters  tenanted 
by  the  ganoids.  It  is  also  true  that  only  certain  genera  of 
sharks  are  found  to  be  represented  in  the  carbonaceous  shales, 
and  they  may  have  differed  in  this  respect  from  the  ordinary 
forms  of  the  order.  It  has  been  suggested  that  only  a  small 
change  would  be  necessary  to  enable  some  of  these  lung  fishes 
to  become  Batrachians,  and  no  doubt  this  is  the  nearest 
approach  of  the  fish  to  the  reptile  ;  but  we  have  not  yet  found 
connecting  links  sufficient  to  bridge  over  the  whole  distance. 

The  plate-bearing  ganoids  of  the  Silurian  and  Devonian,  at 
one  time  supposed  to  be  allied  to  Crustaceans,  but  whose 
dignity  as  "  Forerunners  of  the  back-boned  animals  "  is  now 
generally  admitted,1  are  clearly  true  fishes,  and  of  somewhat 
high  rank,  their  strange  bony  armour  being  evidently  a  special 
protection  against  the  attacks  of  contemporary  sharks  and 
gigantic  crustaceans ;  and  if  we  may  judge  by  the  Colorado 
specimens,  their  existence  dates  back  almost  to  the  close  of  the 
Cambrian,  and  they  were  probably  contemporary  with  small 
sharks ;  while  as  early  as  the  Silurian  and  Devonian,  if  we 
regard  the  scaly  ganoids  as  a  distinct  type,  we  have  already 
four  types  of  fishes,  and  these  akin  to  those  which  in  modern 
time  we  must  regard  as  the  highest  of  their  class. 

One  very  little  fish  of  the  Devonian,  of  which  specimens 
have  been  kindly  sent  me  by  a  friend  in  Scotland,2  the  Palaeo- 

1  A.   Smith   Woodward,    "Natural    Science,"    1892,  and  Annals  and 
Maga.  Nat.   Hist.,   October,   1890.     This  able  naturalist,  in  introducing 
his    subject,     remarks,   from    the    point    of   view    of  an    evolutionist  : — 
"  Whether  some  form  of  '  worm '  gave  origin  to  the  forerunners  of  the 
great  back-boned  race,  or  whether  a  primeval  relative  of  the  King-crab 
turned  upside  down  and  rearranged  limbs  and  head— these  are  questions 
still  admitting  of  endless  discussion,  no  doubt  fruitless  in  their  main  object, 
but  desirable  from  the  new  lines  of  investigation  they  continually  suggest." 

2  James  Reed,  Esq.,  of  Allan  House,  Blairgowrie. 


1 86  THE   SUCCESSION   OF   ANIMAL   FORMS 

spondylus  of  Traquair,  may  raise  still  higher  hopes  for  the  early 
vertebrates.  It  is  a  little  creature,  an  inch  to  two  inches  in 
length,  destitute  or  nearly  destitute  of  bony  covering,  having  a 
head  which  suggests  the  presence  of  external  gills,  large  eyes, 
and  even  elongated  nasal  bones,1  a  long  vertebral  column 
composed  of  separate  bony  rings,  more  than  fifty  in  number, 
with  possible  indications  of  ribs  in  front  and  distinct  neural 
and  haemal  processes  behind.  One  cannot  look  at  it  with- 
out the  suggestion  occurring  of  some  of  the  smaller  snake- 
like  Batrachians  of  the  Carboniferous  and  Permian ;  and  I 
should  not  be  surprised  if  it  should  come  to  be  regarded 
either  as  a  forerunner  of  the  Batrachians  or  as  a  primitive 
tadpole. 

However  this  may  be,  the  upper  part  of  the  Devonian,  though 
rich  in  fishes  and  plants,  has  afforded  no  higher  vertebrates 
than  its  lower  parts,  and  in  the  lowest  Carboniferous  beds  we 
suddenly  find  ourselves  in  the  presence  of  Batrachians  with 
well-developed  limbs  and  characters  which  ally  them  to  the 
Lizards.  True  lizard-like  reptiles  appear  in  the  Permian,  and 
then  we  enter  on  that  marvellous  reign  of  reptiles,  in  which 
this  class  assumed  so  many  great  and  remarkable  forms,  and 
asserted  itself  in  a  manner  of  which  the  now  degraded  reptilian 
class  can  afford  no  conception. 

The  mammals  and  birds  make  their  first  appearance  quietly 
in  small  and  humble  forms  in  the  reign  of  reptiles,  in  which 
there  was  little  place  left  for  them  by  the  latter ;  but  the 
mammals  burst  upon  us  in  all  their  number  and  magnitude  in 
the  Eocene  and  Miocene,  in  which  quadrupedal  mammalian 
life  may  be  said  to  have  culminated  in  grandeur,  variety,  and 
geographical  distribution  ;  far  excelling  in  these  respects  the 
time  in  which  we  live. 

The  development  in  time  of  the  back-boned  animals  thus 
stands  in  some  degree  by  itself;  but  it  illustrates  the  same 
1  I  am  aware  that  Woodward  regards  these  parts  differently. 


THE   SUCCESSION   OF  ANIMAL   FORMS  1 87 

laws  of  early  generalised  types,  and  sudden  and  wide  introduc- 
tion of  new  forms,  which  we  have  seen  in  the  case  of  the  in- 
vertebrates and  the  plants. 

Such  facts  as  those  to  which  I  have  referred,  and  many 
others,  which  want  of  space  prevents  me  from  noticing,  are  in 
one  respect  eminently  unsatisfactory,  for  they  show  us  how 
difficult  must  be  any  attempts  to  explain  the  origin  and  succes- 
sion of  life.  For  this  reason  they  are  quietly  put  aside  or 
explained  away  in  most  of  the  current  hypotheses  on  the  sub- 
ject. But  we  must,  as  men  of  science,  face  these  difficulties, 
and  be  content  to  search  for  facts  and  laws,  even  if  they  should 
prove  fatal  to  preconceived  views. 

A  group  of  new  laws,  indeed,  here  breaks  upon  us.  (i) 
The  great  vitality  and  rapid  extension  and  variation  of  new 
specific  types.  (2)  The  law  of  spontaneous  decay  and  mor- 
tality of  species  in  time.  (3)  The  law  of  periodicity  and  of 
simultaneous  appearance  of  many  allied  forms.  (4)  The 
abrupt  entrance  and  slow  decay  of  groups  of  species.  (5)  The 
extremely  long  duration  of  some  species  in  time.  (6)  The 
grand  march  of  new  forms  landwards,  and  upwards  in  rank. 
Such  general  truths  deeply  impress  us  at  least  with  the  conclu- 
sion that  we  are  tracing,  not  a  fortuitous  succession,  but  the 
action  of  power  working  by  law. 

I  have  thus  far  said  nothing  of  the  bearing  of  the  prevalent 
ideas  of  descent  with  modification  on  this  wonderful  pro- 
cession of  life.  None  of  these,  of  course,  can  be  expected  to 
take  us  back  to  the  origin  of  living  beings  ;  but  they  also  fail 
to  explain  why  so  vast  numbers  of  highly  organized  species 
struggle  into  existence  simultaneously  in  one  age  and  disappear 
in  another,  why  no  continuous  chain  of  succession  in  time  can 
be  found  gradually  blending  species  into  each  other,  and  why, 
in  the  natural  succession  of  things,  degradation  under  the 
influence  of  external  conditions  and  final  extinction  seem  to  be 
laws  of  organic  existence.  It  is  useless  here  to  appeal  to  the 


188  THE   SUCCESSION    OF   ANIMAL   FORMS 

imperfection  of  the  record,  or  to  the  movements  or  migrations 
of  species.  The  record  is  now,  in  many  important  parts,  too 
complete,  and  the  simultaneousness  of  the  entrance  of  the 
faunas  and  floras  too  certainly  established,  and  moving  species 
from  place  to  place  only  evades  the  difficulty.  The  truth  is 
that  such  hypotheses  are  at  present  premature,  and  that  we 
require  to  have  larger  collections  of  facts.  Independently  of 
this,  however,  it  appears  to  me  that  from  a  philosophical  point 
of  view  it  is  extremely  probable  that  all  theories  of  evolution,  as 
at  present  applied  to  life,  are  fundamentally  defective  in  being 
too  partial  in  their  character;  and  perhaps  I  cannot  better  group 
the  remainder  of  the  facts  to  which  I  wish  to  refer  than  by 
using  them  to  illustrate  this  feature  of  most  of  our  attempts  at 
generalization  on  this  subject. 

First,  then,  these  hypotheses  are  too  partial,  in  their  tendency 
to  refer  numerous  and  complex  phenomena  to  one  cause,  or  to 
a  few  causes  only,  when  all  trustworthy  analogy  would  indicate 
that  they  must  result  from  many  concurrent  forces  and  deter- 
minations of  force.  We  have  all,  no  doubt,  read  those  ingenious, 
not  to  say  amusing,  speculations  in  which  some  entomologists 
and  botanists  have  indulged  with  reference  to  the  mutual 
relations  of  flowers  and  suctorial  insects.  Geologically  the 
facts  oblige  us  to  begin  with  Cryptogamous  plants  and  chewing 
insects,  and  out  of  the  desire  of  insects  for  non-existent  honey, 
and  the  adaptations  of  plants  to  the  requirements  of  non- 
existent suctorial  apparatus,  we  have  to  evolve  the  marvellous 
complexity  of  floral  form  and  colouring,  and  the  exquisitely 
delicate  apparatus  of  the  mouths  of  haustellate  insects.  Now, 
when  it  is  borne  in  mind  that  this  theory  implies  a  mental  con- 
fusion on  our  part  precisely  similar  to  that  which,  in  the  depart- 
ment of  mechanics,  actuates  the  seekers  for  perpetual  motion, 
that  we  have  not  the  smallest  tittle  of  evidence  that  the  changes 
required  have  actually  occurred  in  any  one  case,  and  that  the 
thousands  of  other  structures  and  relations  of  the  plant  and  the 


THE   SUCCESSION    OF   ANIMAL   FORMS  1 89 

insect  have  to  be  worked  out  by  a  series  of  concurrent  develop- 
ments so  complex  and  absolutely  incalculable  in  the  aggregate, 
that  the  cycles  and  epicycles  of  the  Ptolemaic  astronomy  were 
child's  play  in  comparison,  we  need  not  wonder  that  the  com- 
mon sense  of  mankind  revolts  against  such  fancies,  and  that  we 
are  accused  of  attempting  to  construct  the  universe  by  methods 
that  would  baffle  Omnipotence  itself,  because  they  are  simply 
absurd.  In  this  aspect  of  them,  indeed,  such  speculations  are 
necessarily  futile,  because  no  mind  can  grasp  all  the  com- 
plexities of  even  any  one  case,  and  it  is  useless  to  follow  out  an 
imaginary  line  of  development  which  unexplained  facts  must 
contradict  at  every  step.  This  is  also,  no  doubt,  the  reason 
why  all  recent  attempts  at  constructing  "  Phylogenies "  are  so 
changeable,  and  why  no  two  experts  can  agree  about  almost 
any  of  them. 

A  second  aspect  in  which  such  speculations  are  too  partial, 
is  in  the  unwarranted  use  which  they  make  of  analogy.  It  is 
not  unusual  to  find  such  analogies  as  that  between  the  em- 
bryonic development  of  the  individual  animal  and  the  succes- 
sion of  animals  in  geological  time  placed  on  a  level  with  that 
reasoning  from  analogy  by  which  geologists  apply  modern 
causes  to  explain  geological  formations.  No  claim  could  be 
more  unfounded.  When  the  geologist  studies  ancient  lime- 
stones built  up  of  the  remains  of  corals,  and  then  applies  the 
phenomena  of  modern  coral  reefs  to  explain  their  origin,  he 
brings  the  latter  to  bear  on  the  former  by  an  analogy  which  in- 
cludes not  merely  the  apparent  results,  but  the  causes  at  work, 
and  the  conditions  of  their  action,  and  it  is  on  this  that  the 
validity  of  his  comparison  depends,  in  so  far  as  it  relates  to 
similarity  of  mode  of  formation.  But  when  we  compare  the 
development  of  an  animal  from  an  embryo  cell  with  the  pro- 
gress of  animals  in  time,  though  we  have  a  curious  analogy  as 
to  the  steps  of  the  process,  the  conditions  and  causes  at  work 
are  known  to  be  altogether  dissimilar,  and  therefore  we  have  no 


IQO  THE   SUCCESSION   OF   ANIMAL   FORMS 

evidence  whatever  as  to  identity  of  cause,  and  our  reasoning 
becomes  at  once  the  most  transparent  of  fallacies.  Further,  we 
have  no  right  here  to  overlook  the  fact  that  the  conditions  of 
the  embryo  are  determined  by  those  of  a  previous  adult,  and 
that  no  sooner  does  this  hereditary  potentiality  produce  a  new 
adult  animal,  than  the  terrible  external  agencies  of  the  physical 
world,  in  presence  of  which  all  life  exists,  begin  to  tell  on  the 
organism,  and  after  a  struggle  of  longer  or  shorter  duration  it 
succumbs  to  death,  and  its  substance  returns  into  inorganic 
nature,  a  law  from  which  even  the  longer  life  of  the  species 
does  not  seem  to  exempt  it.  All  this  is  so  plain  and  manifest 
that  it  is  extraordinary  that  evolutionists  will  continue  to  use 
such  partial  and  imperfect  arguments.  Another  illustration 
may  be  taken  from  that  application  of  the  doctrine  of  natural 
selection  to  explain  the  introduction  of  species  in  geological 
time,  which  is  so  elaborately  discussed  by  Sir  C.  Lyell  in  the 
last  edition  of  his  "  Principles  of  Geology."  The  great  geolo- 
gist evidently  leans  strongly  to  the  theory,  and  claims  for  it  the 
"  highest  degree  of  probability,"  yet  he  perceives  that  there  is 
a  serious  gap  in  it  ;  since  no  modern  fact  has  ever  proved  the 
origin  of  a  new  species  by  modification.  Such  a  gap,  if  it 
existed  in  those  grand  analogies  by  which  he  explained  geo- 
logical formations  through  modern  causes,  would  be  admitted 
to  be  fatal. 

A  third  illustration  of  the  partial  character  of  these  hypo- 
theses may  be  taken  from  the  use  made  of  the  theory  deduced 
from  modern  physical  discoveries,  that  life  must  be  merely  a 
product  of  the  continuous  operation  of  physical  laws.  The 
assumption — for  it  is  nothing  more — that  the  phenomena  of  life 
are  produced  merely  by  some  arrangement  of  physical  forces, 
even  if  it  be  admitted  to  be  true,  gives  only  a  partial  explana- 
tion of  the  possible  origin  of  life.  It  does  not  account  for  the 
fact  that  life,  as  a  force,  or  combination  of  forces,  is  set  in 
antagonism  to  all  other  forces.  It  does  not  account  for  the 


THE   SUCCESSION    OF   ANIMAL   FORMS  IQI 

marvellous  connection  of  life  with  organization.  It  does  not 
account  for  the  determination  and  arrangement  of  forces 
implied  in  life.  A  very  simple  illustration  may  make  this 
plain.  If  the  problem  to  be  solved  were  the  origin  of  the 
mariner's  compass,  one  might  assert  that  it  is  wholly  a  physical 
arrangement,  both  as  to  matter  and  force.  Another  might 
assert  that  it  involves  mind  and  intelligence  in  addition.  In 
some  sense  both  would  be  right.  The  properties  of  magnetic 
force  and  of  iron  or  steel  are  purely  physical,  and  it  might  even 
be  within  the  bounds  of  possibility  that  somewhere  in  the 
universe  a  mass  of  natural  loadstone  may  have  been  so  balanced 
as  to  swing  in  harmony  with  the  earth's  magnetism.  Yet  we 
would  surely  be  regarded  as  very  credulous  if  we  could  be  in- 
duced to  believe  that  the  mariner's  compass  has  originated  in 
that  way.  This  argument  applies  with  a  thousandfold  greater 
force  to  the  origin  of  life,  which  involves  even  in  its  simplest 
forms  so  many  more  adjustments  of  force  and  so  much  more 
complex  machinery. 

Fourthly,  these  hypotheses  are  partial,  inasmuch  as  they  fail 
to  account  for  the  vastly  varied  and  correlated  interdepen- 
dencies  of  natural  things  and  forces,  and  for  the  unity  of  plan 
which  pervades  the  whole.  These  can  be  explained  only  by 
taking  into  the  account  another  element  from  without.  Even 
when  it  professes  to  admit  the  existence  of  a  God,  the  evolu- 
tionist reasoning  of  our  day  contents  itself  altogether  with  the 
physical  or  visible  universe,  and  leaves  entirely  out  of  sight  the 
power  of  the  unseen  and  spiritual,  as  if  this  were  something 
with  which  science  has  nothing  to  do,  but  which  belongs  only 
to  imagination  or  sentiment.  So  much  has  this  been  the  case, 
that  when  recently  a  few  physicists  and  naturalists  have  referred 
to  the  "  Unseen  Universe,"  they  have  seemed  to  be  teaching 
new  and  startling  truths,  though  only  reviving  some  of  the 
oldest  and  most  permanent  ideas  of  our  race.  From  the  dawn 
of  human  thought  it  has  been  the  conclusion  alike  of  philoso- 


192  THE   SUCCESSION   OF  ANIMAL   FORMS 

phers,  theologians,  and  the  common  sense  of  mankind,  that  the 
seen  can  be  explained  only  by  reference  to  the  unseen,  and 
that  any  merely  physical  theory  of  the  world  is  necessarily 
partial.  This,  too,  is  the  position  of  our  sacred  Scriptures,  and 
is  broadly  stated  in  their  opening  verse,  and  indeed  it  lies  alike 
at  the  basis  of  all  true  religion  and  all  sound  philosophy,  for  it 
must  necessarily  be  that  "  the  things  that  are  seen  are  temporal, 
the  things  that  are  unseen,  eternal."  With  reference  to  the 
primal  aggregation  of  energy  in  the  visible  universe,  with  refer- 
ence to  the  introduction  of  life,  with  reference  to  the  soul  of 
man,  with  reference  to  the  heavenly  gifts  of  genius  and  pro- 
phecy, with  reference  to  the  introduction  of  the  Saviour  Himself 
into  the  world,  and  with  reference  to  the  spiritual  gifts  and 
graces  of  God's  people,  all  these  spring,  not  from  sporadic  acts 
of  intervention,  but  from  the  continuous  action  of  God  and  the 
unseen  world ;  and  this,  we  must  never  forget,  is  the  true  ideal 
of  creation  in  Scripture  and  in  sound  theology.  Only  in  such 
exceptional  and  little  influential  philosophies  as  that  of  Demo- 
critus,  and  in  the  speculations  of  a  few  men  carried  off  their 
balance  by  the  brilliant  physical  discoveries  of  our  age,  has 
this  necessarily  partial  and  imperfect  view  been  adopted.  Never, 
indeed,  was  its  imperfection  more  clear  than  in  the  light  of 
modern  science. 

Geology,  by  tracing  back  all  present  things  to  their  origin, 
was  the  first  science  to  establish  on  a  basis  of  observed  facts 
the  necessity  of  a  beginning  and  end  of  the  world.  But  even 
physical  science  now  teaches  us  that  the  visible  universe  is  a 
vast  machine  for  the  dissipation  of  energy;  that  the  processes 
going  on  in  it  must  have  had  a  beginning  in  time,  and  that  all 
things  tend  to  a  final  and  helpless  equilibrium.  This  necessity 
implies  an  unseen  power,  an  invisible  universe,  in  which  the 
visible  universe  must  have  originated,  and  to  which  its  energy 
is  ever  returning.  The  hiatus  between  the  seen  and  the  unseen 
may  be  bridged  over  by  the  conceptions  of  atomic  vortices  of 


THE  SUCCESSION   OF  ANIMAL  FORMS  193 

force,  and  by  the  universal  and  continuous  ether ;  but  whether 
or  not,  it  has  become  clear  that  the  conception  of  the  unseen, 
as  existing,  has  become  necessary  to  our  belief  in  the  possible 
existence  of  the  physical  universe  itself,  even  without  taking 
life  into  account. 

It  is  in  the  domain  of  life,  however,  that  this  necessity  be- 
comes most  apparent;  and  it  is  in  the  plant  that  we  first 
clearly  perceive  a  visible  testimony  to  that  unseen  which  is  the 
counterpart  of  the  seen.  Life  in  the  plant  opposes  the  out- 
ward rush  of  force  in  our  system,  arrests  a  part  of  it  on  its 
way,  fixes  it  as  potential  energy,  and  thus,  forming  a  mere  eddy, 
so  to  speak,  in  the  process  of  dissipation  of  energy,  it  accumu- 
lates that  on  which  animal  life  and  man  himself  may  subsist, 
and  assert  for  a  time  supremacy  over  the  seen  and  temporal  on 
behalf  of  the  unseen  and  eternal.  I  say,  for  a  time,  because 
life  is,  in  the  visible  universe,  as  at  present  constituted,  but  a 
temporary  exception,  introduced  from  that  unseen  world  where 
it  is  no  longer  the  exception  but  the  eternal  rule.  In  a  still 
higher  sense,  then,  than  that  in  which  matter  and  force  testify 
to  a  Creator,  organization  and  life,  whether  in  the  plant,  the 
animal,  or  man,  bear  the  same  testimony,  and  exist  as  outposts 
put  forth  in  the  succession  of  ages  from  that  higher  heaven 
that  surrounds  the  visible  universe.  In  them,  too,  Almighty 
power  is  no  doubt  conditioned  or  limited  by  law  ;  yet  they  bear 
more  distinctly  upon  them  the  impress  of  their  Maker,  and, 
while  all  explanations  of  the  physical  universe  which  refuse  to 
recognise  its  spiritual  and  unseen  origin  must  necessarily  be 
partial  and  in  the  end  incomprehensible,  this  destiny  falls  more 
quickly  and  surely  on  the  attempt  to  account  for  life  and  its 
succession  on  merely  materialistic  principles. 

Here  again,  however,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  creation,  as 
maintained  against  such  materialistic  evolution,  whether  by 
theology,  philosophy,  or  Holy  Scripture,  is  necessarily  a  con- 
tinuous, nay,  an  eternal,  influence,  not  an  intervention  of  dis- 


IQ4  THE   SUCCESSION   OF   ANIMAL   FORMS 

connected  acts.  It  is  the  true  continuity,  which  includes  and 
binds  together  all  other  continuity. 

It  is  here  that  natural  science  meets  with  theology,  not  as  an 
antagonist,  but  as  a  friend  and  ally  in  its  time  of  greatest 
need ;  and  I  must  here  record  my  belief  that  neither  men  of 
science  nor  theologians  have  a  right  to  separate  what  God  in 
Holy  Scripture  has  joined  together,  or  to  build  up  a  wall 
between  nature  and  religion,  and  write  upon  it,  "  no  thorough- 
fare." The  science  that  does  this  must  be  impotent  to  explain 
nature,  and  without  hold  on  the  higher  sentiments  of  man. 
The  theology  that  does  this  must  sink  into  mere  superstition. 

In  conclusion,  can  we  formulate  a  few  of  the  general  laws, 
or  perhaps  I  had  better  call  them  the  general  conclusions, 
respecting  life,  in  which  all  Palaeontologists  may  agree.  Per- 
haps it  is  not  possible  to  do  this  at  present  satisfactorily,  but 
the  attempt  may  do  no  harm.  We  may,  then,  I  think,  make 
the  following  affirmations  : — 

1.  The  existence  of  life  and  organization  on  the  earth  is  not 
eternal,  or  even  coeval  with  the  beginning  of  the  physical  uni- 
verse, but  may  possibly  date  from  Laurentian  or  immediately 
pre-Laurentian  ages. 

2.  The  introduction  of  new  species  of  animals  and  plants  has 
been  a  continuous  process,  not   necessarily  in   the  sense  of 
derivation  of  one  species  from  another,  but  in  the  higher  sense 
of  the  continued  operation  of  the  cause  or  causes  which  intro- 
duced life  at  first.     This,  as  already  stated,  I  take  to  be  the 
true  theological  or  Scriptural  as  well  as  scientific  idea  of  what 
we  ordinarily  and  somewhat  loosely  term  creation. 

3.  Though  thus  continuous,  the  process  has  not  been  uni- 
form ;  but  periods  of  rapid  production  of  species  have  alter- 
nated with  others  in  which  many  disappeared  and  few  were 
introduced.     This  may  have  been  an  effect  of  physical  cycles 
reacting  on  the  progress  of  life. 

4.  Species,  like  individuals,  have  greater  energy  and  vitality  in 


THE   SUCCESSION   OF  ANIMAL   FORMS  195 

their  younger  stages,  and  rapidly  assume  all  their  varietal  forms, 
and  extend  themselves  as  widely  as  external  circumstances  will 
permit.  Like  individuals  also,  they  have  their  periods  of  old 
age  and  decay,  though  the  life  of  some  species  has  been  of 
enormous  duration  in  comparison  with  that  of  others;  the 
difference  appearing  to  be  connected  with  degrees  of  adaptation 
to  different  conditions  of  life. 

5.  Many  allied  species,  constituting  groups  of  animals  and 
plants,  have  made  their  appearance  at  once  in  various  parts  of 
the  earth,  and  these  groups  have  obeyed  the  same  laws  with 
the  individual  and  the  species  in  culminating  rapidly,  and  then 
slowly  diminishing,  though  a  large  group  once  introduced  has 
rarely  disappeared  altogether. 

6.  Groups  of  species,  as  genera  and  orders,  do  not  usually 
begin  with  their  highest  or  lowest  forms,  but  with  intermediate 
and  generalized  types,  and  they  show  a  capacity  for  both  eleva- 
tion and  degradation  in  their  subsequent  history. 

7.  The  history  of  life  presents  a  progress  from  the  lower  to 
the  higher,  and  from  the  simpler  to  the  more  complex,  and 
from  the  more  generalized  to  the  more  specialized.     In  this 
progress  new  types  are  introduced,  and  take  the  place  of  the 
older  ones,  which  sink  to  a  relatively  subordinate  place,  and 
become  thus  degraded.     But  the  physical  and  organic  changes 
have  been  so  correlated  and  adjusted  that  life  has  not  only 
always   maintained   its   existence,    but  has   been   enabled   to 
assume  more  complex  forms,  and  thus  older  forms  have  been 
made  to  prepare  the  way  for  newer,  so  that  there  has  been,  on 
the  whole,  a  steady  elevation   culminating  in   man  himself. 
Elevation  and  specialization  have,  however,  been  secured  at  the 
expense  of  vital  energy  and  range  of  adaptation,  until  the  new 
element  of  a  rational  and  inventive  nature  was  introduced  only 
in  the  case  of  man. 

8.  In  regard  to  the    larger   and   more   distinct   types,  we 
cannot  find  evidence   that   they  have,  in  their  introduction, 


196  THE  SUCCESSION   OF  ANIMAL  FORMS 

been  preceded  by  similar  forms  connecting  them  with  previous 
groups ;  but  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  many  supposed 
representative  species  in  successive  formations  are  really  only 
races  or  varieties. 

9.  In  so  far  as  we  can  trace  their  history,  specific  types  are 
permanent  in  their  characters  from  their  introduction  to  their 
extinction,  and  their  earlier  varietal  forms  are  similar  to  their 
later  ones. 

10.  Palaeontology   furnishes   no    direct    evidence,  perhaps 
never  can  furnish  any,  as  to  the  actual  transformation  of  one 
species   into    another,   or  as  to  the  actual   circumstances   of 
creation  of  a  species ;  but  the  drift  of  its  testimony  is  to  show 
that  species  come  vs\per  saltum,  rather  than  by  any  slow  and 
gradual  process. 

1 1.  The  origin  and  history  of  life  cannot,  any  more  than  the 
origin  and  determination  of  matter  and  force,  be  explained  on 
purely  material  grounds,  but  involve  the  consideration  of  power 
referable  to  the  unseen  and  spiritual  world. 

Different  minds  may  state  these  principles  in  different  ways, 
but  I  believe  that  in  so  far  as  palaeontology  is  concerned,  in 
substance  they  must  hold  good,  at  least  as  steps  to  higher 
truths.  And  now  allow  me  to  say  that  we  should  be  thankful 
that  it  is  given  to  us  to  deal  with  so  great  questions,  and 
that  in  doing  so,  deep  humiliation,  earnest  seeking  for  truth, 
patient  collection  of  all  facts,  self-denying  abstinence  from 
hasty  generalizations,  forbearance  and  generous  estimation  with 
regard  to  our  fellow  labourers,  and  reliance  on  that  Divine 
Spirit  which  has  breathed  into  us  our  intelligent  life,  and  is 
the  source  of  all  true  wisdom,  are  the  qualities  which  best  be- 
come us. 

But  while  the  principles  noted  above  may  be  said  to  be 
known  laws  of  the  apparition  of  new  forms  of  life,  they  do 
not  reach  to  the  secondary  efficient  causes  of  the  introduction 
of  new  species.  What  these  may  ultimately  prove  to  be,  to 


THE  SUCCESSION   OF  ANIMAL  FORMS  197 

what  extent  they  can  be  known  by  us,  and  to  what  extent  they 
may  include  processes  of  derivation,  it  is  impossible  now  to 
say.  At  present  we  must  recognise  in  the  prevailing  theories 
on  the  subject  merely  the  natural  tendency  of  the  human  mind 
to  grasp  the  whole  mass  of  the  unknown  under  some  grand 
general  hypothesis,  which,  though  perhaps  little  else  than  a 
figure  of  speech,  satisfies  for  the  moment.  We  are  dealing 
with  the  origin  of  species  precisely  as  the  alchemists  did  with 
chemistry,  and  as  the  Plutonists  and  Neptunists  did  with 
geology ;  but  the  hypotheses  of  to-day  may  be  the  parents  of 
investigations  which  will  become  real  science  to-morrow.  In 
the  meantime  it  is  safe  to  affirm  that  whatever  amount  of  truth 
there  may  be  in  the  several  hypotheses  which  have  engaged 
our  attention,  there  is  a  creative  force  above  and  beyond  them, 
and  to  the  threshold  of  which  we  shall  inevitably  be  brought, 
after  all  their  capabilities  have  been  exhausted  by  rigid  in- 
vestigation of  facts.  It  is  also  consolatory  to  know  that 
species,  in  so  far  as  the  Modern  period,  or  any  one  past  geo- 
logical period  may  be  concerned,  are  so  fixed  that  for  all 
practical  purposes  they  may  be  regarded  as  unchanging.  They 
are  to  us  what  the  planets  in  their  orbits  are  to  the  astronomer, 
and  speculations  as  to  the  origin  of  species  are  merely  our 
nebular  hypotheses  as  to  the  possible  origin  of  worlds  and 
systems. 

REFERENCES  :— Address  as  Vice-President  of  American  Association  at 
Detroit,  1875.  "The  Chain  of  Life  in  Geological  Time,"  London, 
1879.  Addresses  to  Natural  History  Society  of  Montreal,  published 
in  Canadian  Naturalist,  "Apparition  of  Animal  Forms,"  Princeton 


THE  GENESIS  AND  MIGRATIONS  OF  PLANTS. 

DEDICATED   TO   THE   MEMORY   OF 
DR.    OSWALD   HEER, 

THE  ABLE  AND  SUCCESSFUL  STUDENT  OF  THE  LATER  FLORAS 
OF  THE  NORTHERN  HEMISPHERE. 


GEOLOGICAL  PERIODS  AS  RELATED  TO  PLANTS — ARCTIC  ORIGIN 
OF  FLORAS — THE  DEVONIAN  FLORA — ARCTIC  CLIMATES 
OF  THE  PAST— HISTORY  OF  SOME  MODERN  FORMS- 
LAWS  OF  THE  SUCCESSION 


VEGETATION  OF  THE  MIDDLE  DEVONIAN  OR  ERIAN,  restored  from 
actual  specimens  (p.  202). 


CHAPTER   VIII. 
THE   GENESIS  AND    MIGRATIONS   OF  PLANTS. 

IF,  for  convenience  of  reference,  we  divide  the  whole  history 
of  the  earth,  from  the  time  when  a  solid  crust  first  formed 
on  its  surface  and  began  to  be  ridged  up  into  islands  or  moun- 
tains in  the  primeval  ocean,  into  four  great  periods,  we  shall 
find  that  each  can  be  characterized  by  some  features  in  relation 
to  the  world  of  plants. 

That  Archean  age,  in  which  the  oldest  known  beds  of  rocks 
were  produced — rocks  now  greatly  crumpled  by  the  first  move- 
ments of  the  thin  crust,  and  hardened  and  altered  by  heat  and 
pressure — has,  it  is  true,  little  to  tell  us.  But,  as  elsewhere 
stated,  even  it  has  beds  of  Carbon  in  the  form  of  Graphite — 
veritable  altered  coal  seams — which  the  analogy  of  later  forma- 
tions would  lead  us  to  believe  must  have  been  accumulated  by 
the  growth  of  plants.  This  growth  is  indeed  the  only  known 
cause  capable  of  producing  such  effects.  If  we  should  ever 
be  fortunate  enough  to  find  beds  of  the  Laurentian  series  in 
an  unaltered  state,  we  may  hope  to  know  something  of  this  old 
flora.  Nor  need  we  be  surprised  if  it  should  prove  of  higher 
grade  and  more  noble  development  than  we  should  at  first  sight 
anticipate.  If  there  ever  was  a  time  when  vegetation  alone 
possessed  the  earth,  and  when  there  were  no  animals  to  devour 
or  destroy  it,  we  might  expect  to  find  it  in  its  first  and  best 
estate,  perhaps  not  comparable  in  variety  and  complexity  of 
parts  with  the  flora  of  the  modern  world,  but  grand  in  its 
luxuriance  and  majesty.  Of  such  discoveries,  however,  we  have 
no  certain  indication  at  present. 


2O2       THE  GENESIS   AND    MIGRATION    OF   PLANTS 

If  such  a  primeval  flora  as  that  above  indicated  ever  ex- 
isted, it  must  have  perished  utterly  before  the  incoming  of  the 
next  great  age  of  the  world — that  known  as  the  Palaeozoic, 
whose  rocks  are  surpassingly  rich  in  the  remains  of  animals, 
especially  those  of  the  lower  or  invertebrate  classes  and  those 
that  inhabit  the  waters. 

In  the  oldest  Palaeozoic  rocks  we  find  no  plants  certainly 
terrestrial,  but  abundance  of  Algae  or  seaweeds,  and  some 
gigantic  members  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  which  seem  to 
have  been  trees,  with  structures  more  akin  to  those  of  aquatic 
than  to  those  of  land  plants.1  At  a  somewhat  early  stage,  how- 
ever, in  the  rocks  of  this  period,  we  discover  a  few  undoubted 
land  plants.2  These  seem  to  be  allied  to  the  modern  Club- 
mosses  and  to  their  humble  relations,  the  pillworts3  and 
other  small  plants  of  similar  structure  found  in  ponds  and 
swamps.  Some  of  them,  indeed,  appear  to  be  intermediate 
between  these  groups.  All  these  plants  are  Cryptogams,  or 
destitute  of  true  flowers,  but  do  not  belong  to  the  lowest  forms 
of  that  type.  Thus,  so  far  as  we  know,  plant  life  on  the  land 
began  possibly  with  certain  large  trees  of  algoid  structures,  and 
more  certainly  with  the  club  mosses  and  pillworts  and  their 
allies,  and  these  last  in  the  form  of  species  not  tree-like  in 
dimensions,  but  of  very  moderate  size.  The  structures  of 
these  plants  are  already  sufficiently  well  known  to  inform  us 
that  the  plan  and  functions  of  the  root,  stem  and  leaf,  and  of 
spores  and  spore  case  were  set  up  ;  and  that  the  structures  and 
functions  of  vegetable  cells,  fibres  and  some  kinds  of  vessels 
were  perfected,  and  all  the  apparatus  introduced  necessary  for 
the  fertilization  and  reproduction  of  plants  of  some  degree  of 
complexity.  At  the  same  time,  the  peculiar  structures  of  the 
higher  Algae  were  brought  to  a  pitch  of  perfection  not  surpassed 

1  Nematophyton,  etc.     See  "  Geological  History  of  Plants." 
*  Psilophyton,  Protannularia,  etc. 
8  Rhizocarpeae. 


THE   GENESIS   AND   MIGRATIONS   OF   PLANTS      203 

if  equalled  in  modern  times,  and  which  may  have  enabled 
plants  so  constructed  to  exist  even  on  the  land. 

From  these  beginnings  in  the  early  Palaeozoic,  the  progress 
of  the  vegetable  kingdom  went  on,  until,  in  the  later  parts  of 
that  great  period,  the  Devonian  and  Carboniferous  eras,  it 
culminated  in  those  magnificent  forests  which  have  left  so 
many  interesting  remains,  and  which  accumulated  the  materials 
of  our  great  beds  of  coal.  In  these  the  families  of  the  Club 
mosses,  the  Ferns  and  the  Mare's-tails  attained  to  a  perfection 
in  structure  and  size  altogether  unexampled  in  the  modern 
world,  and  may  be  said  to  have  overspread  the  earth  almost  to 
the  exclusion  of  other  trees.  Here,  however,  two  new  families 
come  in  of  higher  grade,  and  leading  the  way  to  the  flowering 
plants.  These  are  the  Pines  and  their  allies  and  the  Cycads, 
and  certain  intermediate  forms,  neither  Pines  nor  Cycads,  but 
allied  to  both.1  This  wonderful  flora,  which  we  have  now  the 
materials  to  reproduce  in  imagination  almost  in  its  entirety, 
decays  and  passes  away  in  the  Permian  system,  the  last  portion 
of  the  Palaeozoic,  and  in  entering  into  the  third  great  period  of 
the  earth's  history — the  Mesozoic,  we  again  find  an  almost 
entire  change  of  vegetation.  Here,  however,  we  are  able  to 
understand  something  of  the  reasons  of  this.  The  Palasozoic 
floras  seem  to  have  originated  in  the  North,  and  propagated 
themselves  southward  till  they  replenished  the  earth,  and  they 
were  favoured  by  the  existence  at  that  time  of  vast  swampy 
flats  extending  over  great  areas  of  the  yet  imperfectly  elaborated 
continents.  The  Mesozoic  floras,  on  the  other  hand,  seem  to 
have  been  of  Southern  or  equatorial  origin,  and  to  have  fol- 
lowed up  the  older  vegetation  as  it  decayed  and  disappeared, 

1  Cordaites,  etc.  As  I  have  elsewhere  shown,  these  are  distinct  sub- 
floras  in  the  Lower,  Middle  and  Upper  Devonian,  and  in  the  Lower, 
Middle  and  Upper  Carboniferous  and  Permian,  sufficiently  different  to 
allow  these  periods  to  be  determined  by  the  evidence  of  these  fossil 
plants.  Reports  prepared  for  Geological  Survey  of  Canada. 


204      THE   GENESIS   AND   MIGRATIONS   OF   PLANTS 

or  retreated  in  its  old  age  to  its  northern  home.  There  is,  of 
course,  much  in  all  this  that  we  do  not  understand,  but  the 
general  fact  seems  certain. 

The  early  Mesozoic  is  altogether  peculiar.  It  shows  a  vast 
predominance  of  Cycads,  Pines  and  Ferns,  to  the  exclusion 
both  of  the  gigantic  Cryptogams  of  the  Palaeozoic  and  of  the 
ordinary  exogenous  trees  of  the  modern  time.  It  has  a  strange, 
weird  aspect,  and  more  resembles  that  of  some  warm  islands 
of  the  southern  hemisphere  at  present,  than  anything  else 
known  to  us.  It  is  as  if  the  flora  of  some  southern  island  had 
migrated  and  invaded  all  parts  of  the  world.  The  geographical 
and  climated  conditions  which  permitted  this  must  have  been  of 
a  character  different  from  those  both  of  earlier  and  later  times. 

As  we  approach  to  the  termination  of  the  Mesozoic,  which, 
in  regard  to  animal  life,  is  the  age  of  reptiles,  a  new  and 
strange  development  meets  us.  We  find  beds  filled  with 
leaves  of  broad-leaved  plants  similar  to  those  of  our  modern 
woods,  and  in  most  cases  apparently  belonging  to  the  same 
genera  with  plants  now  living,  and  this  new  type  of  vege- 
tation persists  to  the  present,  though  with  marked  differences 
of  species  in  successive  eras,  as  in  the  Middle  and  Upper 
Cretaceous,  and  the  Lower,  Middle  and  Upper  Kainozoic,  or 
Tertiary.  It  is  noteworthy  that  while  this  new  vegetation  not 
only  altogether  supersedes  the  great  Cryptogamous  forests  of 
the  Palaeozoic,  but  replaces  the  Cycads  of  the  immediately 
preceding  eras,  the  Pines  retain  all  their  prominence  and 
grandeur,  and  even  seem  to  excel  in  number  of  species,  in 
breadth  of  dispersion,  and  in  magnitude  of  growth  their 
successors  in  the  present  world. 

While  in  the  latter  Cretaceous  and  Early  Tertiary,  the 
northern  hemisphere  at  least  seems  to  have  enjoyed  an  ex- 
ceptionally warm  climate,  the  later  Tertiary  introduces  that 
period  of  cold  known  as  the  Glacial  age.  While  there  is  no 
doubt  that  the  intensity  of  this  glaciation  has  been  greatly 


THE   GENESIS   AND    MIGRATIONS   OF   PLANTS      2O$ 

exaggerated  by  extreme  glacialists,  and  while  it  is  certain  that 
some  vegetation,  and  this  not  altogether  of  Arctic  types,  con- 
tinued to  exist  throughout  this  period,  even  in  the  now  tem- 
perate regions  of  our  continents,  it  is  evident  that  a  great 
reduction  of  the  exuberance  of  the  flora  occurred  by  the 
removal  of  many  species,  and  that  the  present  flora  of  the 
northern  hemisphere  is  inferior  in  variety  and  magnificence 
to  that  of  the  Middle  Tertiary,  just  as  it  is  found  that  the 
Mammalian  fauna  of  our  continents  has  since  that  time  been 
reduced  both  in  the  number  and  magnitude  of  its  species. 

If  the  reader  has  followed  this  general  sketch,  he  will  be 
prepared  to  appreciate  some  examples  of  a  more  detailed 
character  relating  to  the  floras  of  different  periods,  and  some 
discussions  of  general  points  relating  to  the  genesis  and  vicis- 
situdes of  the  vegetable  kingdom. 

The  origination  of  the  more  important  floras  which  have 
occupied  the  northern  hemisphere  in  geological  times,  not, 
as  one  might  at  first  sight  suppose,  in  the  sunny  climates  of 
the  South,  but  under  the  arctic  skies,  is  a  fact  long  known  or 
suspected.  It  is  proved  by  the  occurrence  of  fossil  plants  in 
Greenland,  in  Spitzbergen,  and  in  Grinnell  Land,  under  cir- 
cumstances which  show  that  these  were  their  primal  homes. 
The  fact  bristles  with  physical  difficulties,  yet  is  fertile  of  the 
most  interesting  theoretical  deductions,  to  reach  which  we  may 
well  be  content  to  wade  through  some  intricate  questions. 
Though  not  at  all  a  new  fact,  its  full  significance  seems  only  re- 
cently to  have  dawned  on  the  minds  of  geologists,  and  within 
recent  years  it  has  produced  a  number  of  memoirs  and  ad- 
dresses to  learned  societies,  besides  many  less  formal  notices.1 

1  Saporata,  ' '  Ancienne  Vegetation  Polaire "  ;  Hooker,  Presidential 
Address  to  Royal  Society,  1878;  Thistleton  Dyer,  "Lecture  on  Plant 
Distribution  " ;  Mr.  Starkie  Gardner,  Letters  in  Nature,  1878,  etc.  The 
basis  of  most  of  these  brochures  is  to  be  found  in  Heer's  "  Flora  Fossilis 
Arctica." 


206      THE   GENESIS   AND    MIGRATIONS   OF   PLANTS 

The  earliest  suggestion  on  this  subject  known  to  the  writer 
is  that  of  my  old  and  dear  friend,  Professor  Asa  Gray,  in  1867, 
with  reference  to  the  probable  northern  source  of  the  related 
floras  of  North  America  and  Eastern  Asia.  With  the  aid  of 
new  facts  disclosed  by  Heer  and  Lesquereux,  Gray  returned 
to  the  subject  in  1872,  and  more  fully  developed  this  conclu- 
sion with  reference  to  the  Tertiary  floras,1  and  still  later  he 
further  discussed  these  questions  in  an  able  lecture  on  "  Forest 
Geography  and  Archaeology."  2  In  this  he  puts  the  case  so 
well  and  tersely  that  I  may  quote  the  following  sentences  as  a 
text  for  what  follows  : — 

"  I  can  only  say,  at  large,  that  the  same  species  (of  Tertiary 
fossil  plants)  have  been  found  all  round  the  world  ;  that  the 
richest  and  most  extensive  finds  are  in  Greenland ;  that  they 
comprise  most  of  the  sorts  which  I  have  spoken  of,  as  Ameri- 
can trees  which  once  lived  in  Europe— Magnolias,  Sassafras, 
Hickories,  Gum-trees,  our  identical  Southern  Cypress  (for  all 
we  can  see  of  difference),  and  especially  Sequoias,  not  only  the 
two  which  obviously  answer  to  the  two  Big-trees  now  peculiar 
to  California,  but  several  others  ;  that  they  equally  comprise 
trees  now  peculiar  to  Japan  and  China — three  kinds  of  Gingko- 
trees,  for  instance,  one  of  them  not  evidently  distinguishable 
from  the  Japan  species  which  alone  survives ;  that  we  have 
evidence,  not  merely  of  Pines  and  Maples,  Poplars,  Birches, 
Lindens,  and  whatever  else  characterize  the  temperate-zone 
forests  of  our  era,  but  also  of  particular  species  of  these,  so 
like  those  of  our  own  time  and  country,  that  we  may  fairly 
reckon  them  as  the  ancestors  of  several  of  ours.  Long 
genealogies  always  deal  more  or  less  in  conjecture ;  but  we 
appear  to  be  within  the  limits  of  scientific  inference  when  we 
announce  that  our  existing  temperate  trees  came  from  the 
north,  and  within  the  bounds  of  high  probability  when  we 

1  Address  to  American  Association. 

*  American  Journal  of  Science,  xvi.,  1878. 


THE   GENESIS   AND   MIGRATIONS   OF   PLANTS      2OJ 

claim  not  a  few  of  them  as  the  originals  of  present  species. 
Remains  of  the  same  plants  have  been  found  fossil  in  our 
temperate  region,  as  well  as  in  Europe." 

Between  1860  and  1870  the  writer  was  engaged  in  working 
out  all  that  could  be  learned  of  the  Devonian  plants  of 
Eastern  America,  the  oldest  known  flora  of  any  richness,  and 
which  consists  almost  exclusively  of  gigantic,  and  to  us 
grotesque,  representatives  of  the  Club  mosses,  Ferns,  and 
Mares'-tails,  with  some  trees  allied  to  the  Cycads  and  Pines. 
In  this  pursuit  nearly  all  the  more  important  localities  were 
visited,  and  access  was  had  to  the  large  collections  of  Professor 
Hall  and  Professor  Newberry  in  New  York  and  Ohio,  as  well 
as  to  those  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Canada,  and  to  those 
made  in  the  remarkable  plant-bearing  beds  of  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  by  Messrs.  Matthew  and  Hartt.  In  the  progress 
of  these  researches,  which  developed  an  unexpectedly  rich 
assemblage  of  species,  the  northern  origin  of  this  old  flora 
seemed  to  be  established  by  its  earlier  culmination  in  the 
north-east,  in  connection  with  the  growth  of  the  American 
land  to  the  southward,  which  took  place  after  the  great  Upper 
Silurian  subsidence,  by  elevations  which  began  in  the  north, 
while  those  portions  of  the  continent  to  the  south-west  still 
remained  under  the  sea. 

When,  in  1870,  the  labours  of  those  ten  years  were  brought 
before  the  Royal  Society  of  London,  in  the  Bakerian  Lecture 
of  that  year,  and  in  a  memoir  illustrating  no  less  than  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  species  of  plants  older  than  the  great 
Carboniferous  system,  these  deductions  were  stated  in  con- 
nection with  the  conclusions  of  Hall,  Logan,  and  Dana,  as  to 
the  distributions  of  sediment  along  the  north-east  side  of  the 
American  continent,  and  the  anticipation  was  hazarded  that 
the  oldest  Palaeozoic  floras  would  be  discovered  to  the  north 
of  Newfoundland.  Mention  was  also  made  of  the  apparent 
earlier  and  more  copious  birth  of  the  Devonian  flora  in 


2O8      THE   GENESIS   AND   MIGRATIONS   OF   PLANTS 

America  than  in  Europe,  a  fact  which  is  itself  connected  with 
the  greater  northward  extension  of  this  continent. 

Unfortunately  the  memoir  containing  these  results  was  not 
published  by  the  Royal  Society,  and  its  publication  was 
secured  in  a  less  perfect  form  only  in  the  reports  of  the  Geo- 
logical Survey  of  Canada.  The  part  of  the  memoir  relating 
to  Canadian  fossil  plants,  with  a  portion  of  the  theoretical  de- 
ductions, was  published  in  a  report  issued  in  187 1.1  In  this 
report  the  following  language  was  used :  — 

"  In  Eastern  America,  from  the  Carboniferous  period  on- 
ward, the  centre  of  plant  distribution  has  been  the  Appalachian 
chain.  From  this  the  plants  and  sediments  extended  west- 
ward in  times  of  elevation,  and  to  this  they  receded  in  times 
of  depression.  But  this  centre  was  non-existent  before  the 
Devonian  period,  and  the  centre  of  this  must  have  been  to  the 
north-east,  whence  the  great  mass  of  older  Appalachian  sedi- 
ment was  derived.  In  the  Carboniferous  period  there  was 
also  an  eastward  distribution  from  the  Appalachians,  and 
links  of  connection  in  the  Atlantic  bed  between  the  floras  of 
Europe  and  America.  In  the  Devonian  such  connection  can 
have  been  only  far  to  the  north-east.  It  is  therefore  in  New- 
foundland, Labrador,  and  Greenland  that  we  are  to  look  for 
the  oldest  American  flora,  and  in  like  manner  on  the  border  of 
the  old  Scandinavian  nucleus  for  that  of  Europe." 

"Again,  it  must  have  been  the  wide  extension  of  the  sea  of 
the  Corniferous  limestone  that  gave  the  last  blow  to  the  re- 
maining flora  of  the  Lower  Devonian  :  and  the  re-elevation  in 
the  middle  of  that  epoch  brought  in  the  Appalachian  ridges  as 
a  new  centre,  and  established  a  connection  with  Europe  which 
introduced  the  Upper  Devonian  and  Carboniferous  floras. 
Lastly,  from  the  comparative  richness  of  the  later  Erian  z  flora 

1  "Fossil  Plants  of  the  Devonian  and  Upper  Silurian  Formations  of 
Canada,"  pp.  92,  twenty  plates.  Montreal,  1871. 

1  The  term  Erian  is  used  as  synonymous  with  Devonian,  and  prob- 


THE   GENESIS   AND   MIGRATIONS   OF   PLANTS      209 

in  Eastern  America,  especially  in  the  St.  John  beds,  it  might 
be  a  fair  inference  that  the  north-eastern  end  of  the  Appala- 
chian ridge  was  the  original  birthplace  or  centre  of  creation  of 
what  we  may  call  the  later  Palaeozoic  flora,  or  a  large  part  of 
that  flora." 

When  my  paper  was  written  I  had  not  seen  the  account 
published  by  the  able  Swiss  palseobotanist  Heer,  of  the  re- 
markable Devonian  flora  of  Bear  Island,  near  Spitzbergen.1 
From  want  of  acquaintance  with  the  older  floras  of  America 
and  Western  Europe,  Heer  fell  into  the  unfortunate  error  of 
regarding  the  Bear  Island  plants  as  Lower  Carboniferous,  a 
mistake  which  his  great  authority  has  tended  to  perpetuate, 
and  which  has  even  led  to  the  still  graver  error  of  some  Euro- 
pean geologists,  who  do  not  hesitate  to  regard  as  Carboni- 
ferous the  fossil  plants  of  the  American  deposits  from  the 
Hamilton  to  the  Chemung  groups  inclusive,  though  these  be- 
long to  formations  underlying  the  oldest  Carboniferous,  and 
characterized  by  animal  remains  of  unquestioned  Devonian 
age.  In  1872  I  addressed  a  note  to  the  Geological  Society  of 
London  on  the  subject  of  the  so-called  "  Ursa  stage  "  of  Heer, 
showing  that  though  it  contained  some  forms  not  known  at  so 
early  a  date  in  temperate  Europe,  it  was  clearly  Devonian  when 
tested  by  North  American  standards  ;  but  that  in  this  high 
latitude,  in  which,  for  reasons  stated  in  the  report  above  re- 
ferred to,  I  believed  the  Devonian  plants  to  have  originated, 
there  might  be  an  intermixture  of  the  two  floras.  But  such  a 
mixed  group  should  in  that  latitude  be  referred  to  a  lower 
horizon  than  if  found  in  temperate  regions. 

Between  1870  and  1873  my  attention  was  turned  to  the  two 
subfloras  intermediate  between  those  of  the  Devonian  and  the 

ably  should  be  preferred  to  it,  as  pointing  to  the  best  development  of 
this  formation  known,  which  is  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Erie. 

1  Trans.  Swedish  Academy,  1871,  Journal  London  Geological  Society, 
vol.  xxvlii. 


210      THE   GENESIS  AND   MIGRATIONS   OF   PLANTS 

coal  formation,  the  floras  of  the  Lower  Carboniferous  (Sub- 
carboniferous  of  some  American  geologists)  and  the  Millstone 
Grit,  and  in  a  report  upon  these  1  similar  deductions  were  ex- 
pressed. It  was  stated  that  in  Newfoundland  and  Northern 
Cape  Breton  the  coal  formation  species  come  in  at  an  early 
part  of  that  period,  and  as  we  proceed  southward  they  belong 
to  progressively  newer  portions  of  the  Carboniferous  system. 
The  same  fact  is  observed  in  the  coal  beds  of  Scotland,  as 
compared  with  those  of  England,  and  it  indicates  that  the 
coal  formation  flora,  like  that  of  the  Devonian,  spread  itself 
from  the  north,  and  this  accords  with  the  somewhat  extensive 
occurrence  of  Lower  Carboniferous  rocks  and  fossils  in  the 
Parry  Islands  and  elsewhere  in  the  Arctic  regions.2 

Passing  over  the  comparatively  poor  flora  of  the  earlier 
Mesozoic,  consisting  largely  of  cycads,  pines,  and  ferns,  which, 
as  we  have  seen,  is  probably  of  southern  origin,  and  is  as  yet 
little  known  in  the  arctic,  though  represented,  according  to 
Heer,  by  the  supposed  Jurassic  flora  of  Cape  Boheman,  we 
find,  especially  at  Kome'  and  Atane  in  Greenland,  an  interest- 
ing occurrence  of  those  earliest  precursors  of  the  truly  modern 
forms  of  plants  which  appear  in  the  Cretaceous,  the  period  of 
the  English  chalk,  and  of  the  New  Jersey  greensands.  There 
are  two  plant  groups  of  this  age  in  Greenland,  one,  that  of 
Kom£  consists  almost  entirely  of  ferns,  cycads,  and  pines,  and  is 
of  decidedly  Mesozoic  aspect.  This  was  regarded  by  Heer  as 
Lower  Cretaceous.  The  other,  that  of  Atane",  holds  remains 
of  many  modern  temperate  genera,  as  Populus,  Myrica,  Ficus, 
Sassafras,  and  Magnolia.  This  he  regards  as  Middle  Creta- 
ceous. Above  this  is  the  Patoot  series,  with  many  exogenous 
trees  of  modern  genera,  and  representing  the  Upper  Creta- 
ceous. Resting  upon  these  Upper  Cretaceous  beds,  without 

1  "  Fossil  Plants  of  Lower  Carboniferous  and  Millstone  Grit  Formations 
of  Canada,"  pp.  47,  10  plates.  Montreal,  1873. 

*  G.  M.  Dawson,   "  Report  on  Arctic  Regions  of  Canada." 


THE   GENESIS   AND    MIGRATIONS   OF    PLANTS      211 

the  intervention  of  any  other  formation,1  are  beds  rich  in 
plants  of  much  more  modern  appearance,  and  referred  by 
Heer  to  the  Miocene  period,  a  reference  which  appeared  at 
the  time  to  be  warranted  by  comparison  with  the  Tertiary 
plants  of  Europe,  but,  as  we  shall  see,  not  with  those  of 
America.  Still  farther  north  this  so-called  Miocene  assemblage 
of  plants  appears  in  Spitzbergen  and  Grinnell  Land ;  but 
there,  owing  to  the  predominance  of  trees  allied  to  the  spruces, 
it  has  a  decidedly  more  boreal  character  than  in  Greenland,  as 
might  be  anticipated  from  its  nearer  approach  to  the  pole.2 

If  now  we  turn  to  the  Cretaceous  and  Tertiary  floras  of 
Western  America,  as  described  by  Lesquereux,  Newberry,  and 
Ward,  we  find  in  the  lowest  Cretaceous  rocks  known  there 
until  very  recently — those  of  the  Dakota  group,  which  may 
be  in  the  lower  part  of  the  Middle  Cretaceous — a  series  of 
plants 3  essentially  similar  to  those  of  the  Middle  Cretaceous 
of  Greenland.  To  these  I  have  been  able  to  add,  through  the 
researches  of  Mr.  Richardson  and  Dr.  G.  M.  Dawson,  a  still 
earlier  flora,  that  of  the  Kootanie  and  Queen  Charlotte  Island 
formations,  as  old  as  the  Gault  and  Wealden.  It  wants  the 
broad-leaved  plants  of  the  Dakota,  and  consists  mainly  of 
pines,  cycads,  and  ferns  ;  and  only  in  its  upper  part  contains 
a  few  forerunners  of  the  exogens.4  These  plants  occur  in  beds 
indicating  shallow  sea  conditions  as  prevalent  in  the  interior 
of  America,  causing,  no  doubt,  a  warm  climate  in  the  north. 
Overlying  this  plant-bearing  formation  we  have  an  oceanic 
limestone  (the  Niobrara),  corresponding  in  many  respects  to 

1  Nordenskiold,  Expedition  to  Greenland,  Geological  Magazine,  1872. 

8  Yet  even  here  the  Bald  Cypress  (Taxodium  distichum),  or  a  tree  nearly 
allied  to  it,  is  found,  though  this  species  is  now  limited  to  the  Southern 
States.  Fielden  and  De  Ranee,  Journal  of  Geological  Society,  1878. 

3  Lesquereux,  Report  on  Cretaceous  Flora.     The  reader  not  interested 
in  American  details  may  pass  over  to  the  middle  of  page  213. 

4  This  flora  has  since  been  described  in    Virginia   and   Maryland   by 
Fontaine,  and  has  been  recognised  in  Montana  by  Newberry. 

II 


212      THE   GENESIS  AND   MIGRATIONS   OF   PLANTS 

the  European  chalk,  and  containing  similar  microscopic  organ- 
isms. This  extends  far  north  into  the  British  territory,1  indi- 
cating farther  subsidence  and  the  prevalence  of  a  vast  Mediter- 
ranean Sea,  filled  with  warm  water  from  the  equatorial  cur- 
rents, and  not  invaded  by  cold  waters  from  the  north.  This 
is  succeeded  by  Upper  Cretaceous  deposits  of  clay  and  sand- 
stone, with  marine  remains,  though  very  sparsely  distributed  ; 
and  these  show  that  further  subsidence  or  denudation  in  the 
north  had  opened  a  way  for  the  arctic  currents,  producing  a 
fall  of  temperature  at  the  close  of  the  Cretaceous,  and  partially 
filling  up  the  Mediterranean  of  that  period. 

Of  the  flora  of  the  Middle  and  Upper  Cretaceous  periods, 
which  must  have  been  very  long,  we  know  something  in  the 
interior  regions  through  the  plants  of  Dunvegan  and  Peace 
River ; 2  and  on  the  coast  of  British  Columbia  we  have  the 
remarkable  Cretaceous  coalfield  of  Vancouver's  Island,  which 
holds  the  remains  of  plants  of  modern  genera,  including  species 
of  fan  palm,  ginkgo,  evergreen  oak,  tulip  tree,  and  other  forms 
proper  to  a  warm  temperature  or  subtropical  climate.  They 
probably  indicate  a  warmer  climate  as  then  prevalent  on  the 
Pacific  coast  than  in  the  interior,  and  in  this  respect  corre- 
spond with  a  meagre  transition  flora,  intermediate  between  the 
Cretaceous  and  Eocene  or  earliest  Tertiary  of  the  interior  re- 
gions, and  named  by  Lesquereux  the  Lower  Lignitic. 

Immediately  above  these  Upper  Cretaceous  beds  we  have 
the  great  Lignite  Tertiary  of  the  west — the  Laramie  group  of 
recent  American  reports  3 — abounding  in  fossil  plants,  proper 
to  a  temperate  climate,  at  one  time  regarded  as  Miocene,  but 
now  known  to  be  Lower  Eocene.4  These  beds,  with  their 

1  G.  M.  Dawson,  Report  on  Forty-ninth  Parallel. 

*  Trans.  Royal  Society  of  Canada. 

8  Ward,  Repts.  and  Bulletins  Am.  Geol.  Survey. 

4  Lesquereux's  Tertiary  Flora ;  White  and  Ward  on  the  Laramie  Group; 
Stevenson,  Geological  Relations  of  Lignitic  Groups,  Am.  Phil.  Soc.,June, 
1875- 


THE   GENESIS   AND   MIGRATIONS   OF   PLANTS      213 

characteristic  plants,  have  been  traced  into  the  British  territory 
north  of  the  forty-ninth  parallel,  and  it  has  been  shown  that 
their  fossils  are  identical  with  those  of  the  McKenzie  River 
Valley,  described  by  Heer  as  Miocene,  and  probably  also  with 
those  of  Alaska,  referred  to  the  same  age.1  Now  this  truly 
Eocene  flora  of  the  temperate  and  northern  parts  of  America 
has  so  many  species  in  common  with  that  called  Miocene  in 
Greenland,  that  its  identity  can  scarcely  be  doubted.  These 
facts  have  led  me  to  doubt  the  Miocene  age  of  the  upper 
plant-bearing  beds  of  Greenland,  and  more  recently  Mr.  J. 
Starkie  Gardner  has  shown  from  comparison  with  the  Eocene 
flora  of  England  and  other  considerations,  that  they  are  really 
of  that  earlier  date.2 

In  looking  at  these  details,  we  might  perhaps  suppose  that 
no  conditions  of  climate  could  permit  the  vegetation  of  the 
neighbourhood  of  Disco  in  Greenland  to  be  identical  with 
that  of  Colorado  and  Missouri,  at  a  time  when  little  difference 
of  level  existed  in  the  two  regions.  Either  the  southern  flora 
migrated  north  in  consequence  of  a  greater  amelioration  of 
climate,  or  the  northern  flora  moved  southward  as  the  climate 
became  colder.  The  same  argument,  as  Gardner  has  ably 
shown,  applies  to  the  similarity  of  the  Tertiary  plants  of  tem- 
perate Europe  to  those  of  Greenland.  If  Greenland  required 
a  temperature  of  about  50°,  as  Heer  calculates,  to  maintain  its 
"  Miocene  "  flora,  the  temperature  of  England  must  have  been 
at  least  70°,  and  that  of  the  south-western  -States  still  warmer. 
It  is  to  be  observed,  however,  that  the  geographical  arrange- 

1  G.  M.  Dawson,  Report  on  the  Geology  of  the  Forty-ninth  Parallel, 
1875,  where  full  details  on  these  points  may  be  found. 

2  Nature,  Dec.  I2th,    1878 ;    Publications  Palaeontographical  Society  ; 
Reports  to  British  Association.     It  seems  certain  that  the  so-called  Miocene 
of  Bovey  Tracey  in  Devon,  and  of  Mull  in  Scotland,  is  really  Eocene.     The 
Tertiary  plant-bearing  beds  of  Greenland  are  said  by  Nathorst  to  rest  un- 
cDnformablyon  the  Cretaceous,  and  are  characterized  by  M'Clintockia  and 
other  forms  known  in  the  Eocene  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 


214      THE   GENESIS   AND   MIGRATIONS   OF   PLANTS 

ments  of  the  American  land  in  Cretaceous  and  early  Eocene 
times,  included  the  existence  of  a  great  inland  sea  of  warm 
water  extending  at  some  periods  as  far  north  as  the  latitude  of 
55°,  and  that  this  must  have  tended  to  much  equality  of  clima- 
tical  conditions. 

We  cannot  certainly  affirm  anything  respecting  the  origin 
and  migrations  of  these  floras,  but  there  are  some  probabilities 
which  deserve  attention.  The  ferns  and  cycads  of  the  so- 
called  Lower  Cretaceous  of  Greenland  are  nothing  but  a 
continuation  of  the  previous  Jurassic  flora.  Now  this  was 
established  at  an  equally  early  date  in  the  Queen  Charlotte 
Islands,1  and  still  earlier  in  Virginia.2  The  presumption  is, 
therefore,  that  it  came  from  the  south.  It  has  indeed  the 
facies  of  a  southern  hemisphere  and  insular  flora;  and  pro- 
bably spread  itself  northward  as  far  as  Greenland  at  a  time 
when  the  American  land  was  long,  narrow,  and  warm,  and 
when  the  ocean  currents  were  carrying  tepid  water  far  toward 
the  arctic  regions.  The  flora  which  succeeds  this  in  the  sec- 
tions at  Atane  and  Patoot  has  no  special  affinities  with  the 
southern  hemisphere,  and  is  of  a  warm  temperate  and  conti- 
nental character.  It  is  very  similar  in  its  general  aspect  to 
that  of  the  Dakota  group  farther  to  the  south,  and  this  is 
probably  Middle  Cretaceous.  This  flora  must  have  originated 
either  somewhere  in  temperate  America,  or  within  the  arctic 
circle,  and  it  must  have  replaced  the  older  one  by  virtue  of 
increasing  subsidence  and  gradual  change  of  climate.  It  must 
therefore  have  been  connected  with  the  depression  of  the  land 
which  took  place  in  the  course  of  the  Cretaceous.  During  this 
movement  it  spread  over  all  Western  America,  and  as  the  land 
again  arose  from  the  sea  of  the  Niobrara  chalk,  it  assumed  an 
aspect  more  suited  to  a  cool  climate,  or  moved  southward, 

1  Reports  Geological  Survey  of  Canada. 

2  Fontaine  has  well  described  the  Mesozoic  flora  of  Virginia,  American 
Journal  of  Science,  January,  1879. 


THE   GENESIS   AND   MIGRATIONS   OF   PLANTS      21 5 

and  finally  abandoned  the  Arctic  regions,  perhaps  continuing 
to  exist  on  the  Pacific  coast,  and  in  sheltered  places  in  the 
north,  till  the  warm  inland  seas  of  the  Upper  Cretaceous  had 
given  place  to  the  wide  plains  and  landlocked  brackish  seas  or 
fresh-water  lakes  of  the  Laramie  period  (Eocene).  Thus  the 
true  Upper  Cretaceous  marks  in  the  interior  a  cooler  period 
intervening  between  the  Middle  Cretaceous  and  the  Lower 
Eocene  floras  of  Greenland. 

This  latter  established  itself  in  Greenland,  and  probably  all 
around  the  Arctic  circle,  in  the  mild  period  of  the  earliest 
Eocene,  and  as  the  climate  of  the  northern  hemisphere  became 
gradually  reduced  from  that  time  till  the  end  of  the  Pliocene, 
it  marched  on  over  both  continents  to  the  southward,  chased 
behind  by  the  modern  arctic  flora,  and  eventually  by  the  frost 
and  snow  of  the  Glacial  age.  This  history  may  admit  of  cor- 
rection in  details ;  but,  so  far  as  present  knowledge  extends,  it 
is  in  the  main  not  far  from  the  truth. 

Perhaps  the  first  great  question  which  it  raises  is  that  as  to 
the  causes  of  the  alternations  of  warm  and  cold  climates  in  the 
north,  apparently  demanded  by  the  vicissitudes  of  the  vegetable 
kingdom.  Here  we  may  set  aside  the  idea  that  in  former 
times  plants  were  suited  to  endure  greater  cold  than  at  present. 
It  is  true  that  some  of  the  fossil  Greenland  plants  are  of  un- 
known genera,  and  many  are  new  species  to  us ;  but  we  are 
on  the  whole  safe  in  affirming  that  they  must  have  required 
conditions  similar  to  those  necessary  to  their  modern  repre- 
sentatives, except  within  such  limits  as  we  now  find  to  hold  in 
similar  cases  among  existing  plants.  Still  we  know  that  at  the 
present  time  many  species  found  in  the  equable  climate  of 
England  will  not  live  in  Canada,  though  species  to  all  appear- 
ance similar  in  structure  are  natives  of  the  latter.  There  is 
also  some  reason  to  suppose  that  species,  when  new,  may  have 
greater  hardiness  and  adaptability  than  when  in  old  age,  and 
verging  toward  extinction.  In  any  case,  these  facts  can  account 


2l6      THE   GENESIS   AND   MIGRATIONS   OF   PLANTS 

for  but  a  small  part  of  the  phenomena,  which  require  to  be  ex- 
plained by  physical  changes  affecting  the  earth  as  a  whole,  or 
at  least  the  northern  hemisphere.  Many  theoretical  views 
have  been  suggested  on  this  subject,  which  will  be  found  dis- 
cussed elsewhere,  and  perhaps  the  most  practical  way  to  deal 
with  them  here  will  be  to  refer  to  the  actual  conditions  known 
to  have  prevailed  in  connection  with  the  introduction  and 
distribution  of  the  principal  floras  which  have  succeeded  each 
other  in  geological  history. 

If  we  can  assume  that  all  the  carbon  now  sealed  up  in  lime- 
stones and  in  coal  was  originally  floating  in  the  atmosphere 
as  carbon  dioxide,  then  we  would  have  a  cause  which  might 
seriously  have  affected  the  earlier  land  floras — that,  for  instance, 
which  may  have  existed  in  the  Eozoic  age,  and  those  well 
known  to  us  in  the  Palaeozoic.  Such  an  excess  of  carbonic 
acid  would  have  required  some  difference  of  constitution  in 
the  plants  themselves ;  it  would  have  afforded  them  a  super- 
abundance of  wood-forming  nutriment,  and  it  would  have 
acted  as  an  obstacle  to  the  radiation  of  heat  from  the  earth, 
almost  equal  to  the  glass  roof  of  a  greenhouse,  thus  constituting 
a  great  corrective  of  changes  of  temperature.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances we  might  expect  a  peculiar  and  exuberant  vegeta- 
tion in  the  earlier  geological  ages,  though  this  would  not  apply 
to  the  later  in  any  appreciable  degree.  In  addition  to  this 
we  know  that  the  geographical  arrangements  of  our  continents 
were  suited  to  the  production  of  a  great  uniformity  of  climate. 
Taking  the  American  continent  as  the  simpler,  we  know  that 
in  this  period  there  existed  in  the  interior  plateau  between  the 
rudimentary  eastern  and  western  mountains  a  great  inland 
sea,  so  sheltered  from  the  north  that  its  waters  contained  hun- 
dreds of  species  of  corals,  growing  with  a  luxuriance  unsur- 
passed in  the  modern  tropics.  On  the  shores  and  islands  of 
such  a  sea  we  do  not  wonder  that  there  should  have  been  tree 
ferns  and  gigantic  lycopods.  In  the  succeeding  Carboniferous. 


THE   GENESIS   AND   MIGRATIONS   OF   PLANTS      2 1/ 

vast  areas,  both  on  the  margins  and  in  the  interior  of  the 
continent,  were  occupied  with  swampy  flats  and  lagoons,  the 
atmosphere  of  which  must  have  been  loaded  with  vapour,  and 
rich  in  compounds  of  carbon,  though  the  temperature  may 
have  been  lower  than  in  the  Devonian.  There  still  remained, 
however,  more  especially  in  the  west,  a  remnant  of  the  old 
inland  sea,  which  must  have  greatly  aided  in  carrying  a  warm 
temperature  to  the  north. 

If  now  we  pass  to  the  succeeding  Jurassic  age,  we  find  a 
more  meagre  and  less  widely  distributed  flora,  corresponding 
to  less  favourable  geographical  and  climatal  conditions,  while 
in  the  Cretaceous  and  Eocene  ages  a  return  to  the  old  con- 
dition of  a  warm  Mediterranean  in  continuation  of  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  gave  those  facilities  for  vegetable  growth,  which 
carried  plants  of  the  temperate  zone  as  far  north  as  Greenland. 

It  thus  appears  that  those  changes  of  physical  geography 
and  of  the  ocean  currents  to  which  reference  is  so  often  made 
in  these  papers,  apply  to  the  question  of  the  distribution  of 
plants  in  geological  time. 

These  same  causes  may  help  us  to  deal  with  the  peculiarities 
of  the  great  Glacial  age,  which  may  have  been  rendered  ex- 
ceptionally severe  by  the  combination  of  several  of  the  conti- 
nental and  oceanic  causes  of  refrigeration.  We  must  not 
imagine,  however,  that  the  views  of  those  extreme  glacialists, 
who  suppose  continental  ice  caps  reaching  half  way  to  the 
equator,  are  borne  out  by  facts.  In  truth,  the  ice  accumulat- 
ing round  the  pole  must  have  been  surrounded  by  water,  and 
there  must  have  been  tree-clad  islands  in  the  midst  of  the  icy 
seas,  even  in  the  time  of  greatest  refrigeration.  This  is  proved 
by  the  fact  that  in  the  lower  Leda  clay  of  Eastern  Canada, 
which  belongs  to  the  time  of  greatest  submergence,  and  whose 
fossil  shells  show  sea  water  almost  at  the  freezing  point,  there 
are  leaves  of  poplars  and  other  plants  which  must  have  been 
drifted  from  neighbouring  shores.  Similar  remains  occur  in 


2l8      THE   GENESIS  AND   MIGRATIONS   OF   PLANTS 

clays  of  similar  origin  in  the  basin  of  the  great  lakes  and  in 
the  West,  and  are  not  Arctic  plants,  but  members  of  the  North 
Temperate  flora.1  These  have  been  called  "  interglacial,"  but 
there  is  no  evidence  to  prove  that  they  are  not  truly  glacial. 
Thus,  while  the  arctic  flora  must  have  continued  to  exist  within 
the  Arctic  circle  in  the  Glacial  age,  we  have  evidence  that  those 
of  the  cold  temperate  and  subarctic  zones  continued  to  exist 
pretty  far  north.  At  the  same  time  the  warm  temperate  flora 
would  be  driven  to  the  south,  except  where  sustained  in  insular 
spots  warmed  by  the  equatorial  currents.  It  would  return  north- 
ward on  the  re-elevation  of  the  land  and  the  return  of  warmth. 

If,  however,  our  modern  flora  is  thus  one  that  has  returned 
from  the  south,  this  would  account  for  its  poverty  in  species 
as  compared  with  those  of  the  early  Tertiary.  Groups  of  plants 
descending  from  the  north  have  been  rich  and  varied.  Re- 
turning from  the  south  they  are  like  the  shattered  remains  of 
a  beaten  army.  This,  at  least,  has  been  the  case  with  such  re- 
treating floras  as  those  of  the  Lower  Carboniferous,  the  Per- 
mian, and  the  Jurassic,  and  possibly  that  of  the  Lower  Eocene 
of  Europe. 

The  question  of  the  supply  of  light  to  an  Arctic  flora  is 
much  less  difficult  than  some  have  imagined.  The  long 
summer  day  is  in  this  respect  a  good  substitute  for  a  longer 
season  of  growth,  while  a  copious  covering  of  winter  snow  not 
only  protects  evergreen  plants  from  those  sudden  alternations 
of  temperature  which  are  more  destructive  than  intense  frost, 
and  prevents  the  frost  from  penetrating  to  their  roots,  but 
by  the  ammonia  which  it  absorbs  preserves  their  greenness. 
According  to  Dr.  Brown,  the  Danish  ladies  of  Disco  long  ago 
solved  this  problem.2  He  informs  us  that  they  cultivate  in 

1  Pleistocene  Plants  of  Canada,  Dawson  and  Penhallow,  Bull,  Geol. 
Socy.,  America,  1890.  In  Europe  the  Arctic  flora  extended,  relatively  to 
present  climate,  farther  south. 

8  Florula  Discoana,  Botanical  Society  of  Edinburgh,  1868. 


THE   GENESIS   AND   MIGRATIONS   OF   PLANTS      2 19 

their  houses  most  of  our  garden  flowers,  as  roses,  fuchsias,  and 
geraniums,  showing  that  it  is  merely  warmth,  and  not  light 
that  is  required  to  enable  a  subtropical  flora  to  thrive  in  Green- 
land. Even  in  Canada,  which  has  a  flora  richer  in  some  re- 
spects than  that  of  temperate  Europe,  growth  is  effectually 
arrested  by  cold  for  nearly  six  months,  and  though  there  is 
ample  sunlight  there  is  no  vegetation.  It  is  indeed  not  im- 
possible that  in  the  plans  of  the  Creator  the  continuous 
summer  sun  of  the  Arctic  regions  may  have  been  made  the 
means  for  the  introduction,  or  at  least  for  the  rapid  growth  and 
multiplication,  of  new  and  more  varied  types  of  plants.  It  is  a 
matter  of  familiar  observation  in  Canada  that  our  hardy  garden 
flowers  attain  to  a  greater  luxuriance  and  intensity  of  colour 
in  those  more  northern  latitudes  where  they  have  the  advan- 
tage of  long  and  sunny  summer  days. 

Much,  of  course,  remains  to  be  known  of  the  history  of  the 
old  floras  whose  fortunes  I  have  endeavoured  to  sketch,  and 
which  seem  to  have  been  driven  like  shuttlecocks  from  north 
to  south,  and  from  south  to  north,  especially  on  the  American 
continent,  whose  meridional  extension  seems  to  have  given  a 
field  specially  suited  for  such  operations. 

This  great  stretch  of  the  western  continent  from  north  to 
south  is  also  connected  with  the  interesting  fact  that,  when 
new  floras  are  entering  from  the  Arctic  regions,  they  appear 
earlier  in  America  than  in  Europe  ;  and  that  in  times  when  the 
old  floras  are  retreating  from  the  south,  old  genera  and  species 
linger  longer  in  America.  Thus,  in  the  Devonian  and  Cre- 
taceous new  forms  of  those  periods  appear  in  America  long 
before  they  are  recognised  in  Europe,  and  in  the  modern 
epoch  forms  that  would  be  regarded  in  Europe  as  Miocene 
still  exist.  Much  confusion  in  reasoning  as  to  the  geological 
ages  of  the  fossil  flora  has  arisen  from  want  of  attention  to 
this  circumstance. 

What  we  have  learned  respecting  this  wonderful  history  has 
u* 


22O      THE   GENESIS   AND   MIGRATIONS   OF   PLANTS 

served  strangely  to  change  some  of  our  preconceived  ideas. 
We  must  now  be  prepared  to  admit  that  an  Eden  might  exist 
even  in  Spitsbergen,  that  there  are  possibilities  in  this  old 
earth  of  ours  which  its  present  condition  does  not  reveal  to 
us;  that  the  present  state  of  the  world  is  by  no  means  the 
best  possible  in  relation  to  climate  and  vegetation ;  that  there 
have  been  and  might  be  again  conditions  which  could  con- 
vert the  ice-clad  Arctic  regions  into  blooming  paradises,  and 
which,  at  the  same  time,  would  moderate  the  fervent  heat  of  the 
tropics.  We  are  accustomed  to  say  that  nothing  is  impossible 
with  God ;  but  how  little  have  we  known  of  the  gigantic  pos- 
sibilities which  lie  hidden  under  some  of  the  most  common  of 
His  natural  laws. 

Yet  these  facts  have  been  made  the  occasion  of  speculations 
as  to  the  spontaneous  development  of  plants  without  any 
direct  creative  intervention.  It  would,  from  this  point  of  view, 
be  a  nice  question  to  calculate  how  many  revolutions  of  climate 
would  suffice  to  evolve  the  first  land  plant;  what  are  the 
chances  that  such  plant  would  be  so  dealt  with  by  physical 
changes  as  to  be  preserved  and  nursed  into  a  meagre  flora  like 
that  of  the  Upper  Silurian  or  the  Jurassic  ;  how  many  trans- 
portations to  Greenland  would  suffice  to  promote  such  meagre 
flora  into  the  rich  and  abundant  forests  of  the  Upper  Creta- 
ceous, and  to  people  the  earth  with  the  exuberant  vegetation 
of  the  early  Tertiary.  Such  problems  we  may  never  be  able 
to  solve.  Probably  they  admit  of  no  solution,  unless  we  invoke 
the  action  of  a  creative  mind,  operating  through  long  ages,  and 
correlating  with  boundless  power  and  wisdom  all  the  energies 
inherent  in  inorganic  and  organic  nature.  Even  then  we  shall 
perhaps  be  able  to  comprehend  only  the  means  by  which,  after 
specific  types  have  been  created,  they  may,  by  the  culture  of 
their  Maker,  be  "sported"  into  new  varieties  or  sub-species, 
and  thus  fitted  to  exist  under  different  conditions,  or  to  occupy 
higher  places  in  the  economy  of  nature. 


THE   GENESIS   AND   MIGRATIONS   OF   PLANTS      221 

Before  venturing  on  such  extreme  speculations  as  some  now 
current  on  questions  of  this  kind,  we  would  require  to  know 
the  successive  extinct  floras  as  perfectly  as  those  of  the  modern 
world,  and  to  be  able  to  ascertain  to  what  extent  each  species 
can  change,  either  spontaneously  or  under  the  influence  of 
struggle  for  existence,  or  expansion  under  favourable  conditions, 
and  under  Arctic  semi-annual  days  and  nights,  or  the  shorter 
days  of  the  tropics.  Such  knowledge,  if  ever  acquired,  it  may 
take  ages  of  investigation  to  accumulate.  In  any  case  the  sub- 
ject of  this  paper  indicates  one  hopeful  line  of  study  with 
the  object  of  arriving  at  some  comprehension  of  the  laws  of 
creation. 

While  the  facts  above  slightly  sketched  impress  us  with  the 
grand  progress  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  in  geological  time, 
they  equally  show  the  persistence  of  vegetable  forms  as  com- 
pared with  that  of  the  dead  continental  masses  and  the  decay 
of  some  forms  of  life  in  favour  of  the  introduction  of  others. 

When  we  find  in  the  glacial  beds  the  leaves  of  trees  still 
living  in  North  America  and  Europe,  and  consider  the  vicissi- 
tudes of  elevation  and  submergence  of  the  land,  and  of 
Arctic  and  temperate  climates  which  have  occurred,  we  are 
struck  with  the  persistence  of  the  weak  things  of  life,  as  com- 
pared with  the  changeableness  of  rocks  and  mountains.  A 
superficial  observer  might  think  the  fern  or  the  moss  of  a 
granite  hill  a  frail  and  temporary  thing  as  compared  with  solid 
and  apparently  everlasting  rock.  But  just  the  reverse  is  the 
case.  The  plant  is  usually  older  than  the  mountain.  But  the 
glacial  age  is  a  very  recent  thing.  We  have  facts  older  than 
this.  As  hinted  in  a  previous  paper,  in  the  Laramie  clays 
associated  with  the  Lignite  beds  of  North-western  Canada — 
beds  of  Lower  Eocene  or  early  Tertiary  age — which  were  de- 
posited before  the  Rocky  Mountains  or  the  Himalayas  had 
reared  their  great  peaks  and  ridges,  and  at  a  time  when  the 
whole  geography  of  the  northern  hemisphere  was  different 


222      THE   GENESIS   AND   MIGRATIONS   OF   PLANTS 

from  what  it  is  at  present — are  remains  of  very  frail  and  deli- 
cate plants  which  still  live.  I  have  shown  that  in  these  clays 
there  exist,  side  by  side,  the  Sensitive  Fern,  Onocka  sensibilis, 
and  one  of  the  delicate  rock  ferns,  Davallia  tenuifolia.1  The 
first  is  still  very  abundant  all  over  North  America.  The  second 
has  ceased  to  exist  in  North  America,  but  still  survives  in  the 
valleys  of  the  Himalayas.  These  two  little  plants,  once  prob- 
ably very  widely  diffused  over  the  northern  hemisphere,  have 
continued  to  exist  through  the  millenniums  separating  the 
Cretaceous  from  the  present  time,  and  in  which  the  greater 
part  of  our  continent  was  again  and  again  under  the  sea,  in 
which  great  mountain  chains  have  been  rolled  up  and  sculptured 
into  their  present  forms,  and  in  which  giant  forms,  both  of 
animal  and  plant  life,  have  begun,  culminated  and  passed 
away.  Truly  God  hath  chosen  the  weak  things  of  the  world  to 
confound  those  that  are  strong. 

Other  plants  equally  illustrate  the  decadence  of  important 
types  of  vegetable  life.  In  the  beautiful  family  of  the  Magnolias 
there  exists  in  America  a  most  remarkable  and  elegant  tree, 
whose  trunk  attains  sometimes  a  diameter  of  7  feet  and  a 
height  of  80  or  90  feet.  Its  broad  deep  green  leaves  are 
singularly  truncate  at  the  end,  as  if  artificially  cut  off,  and  in 
spring  it  puts  forth  a  wealth  of  large  and  brilliant  orange  and 
yellow  flowers,  from  which  it  obtains  the  name  of  Tulip  tree. 
It  is  the  Liriodendron  tulipifera  of  botanists,  and  the  sole 
species  of  its  genus.  This  Tulip  tree  has  a  history.  All 
through  the  Tertiary  beds  we  find  leaves  referable  to  the  genus, 
and  belonging  not  to  one  species  only,  but  to  several,  and  as 
we  go  back  into  the  Cretaceous,  the  species  seem  to  become 
more  numerous.  Many  of  them  have  smaller  leaves  than  the 
modern  species,  others  larger,  and  some  have  forms  even  more 
quaint  than  that  of  the  existing  Tulip  tree.  The  oldest  that  I 
have  seen  in  Canada  is  one  from  the  Upper  Cretaceous  of 
1  Report  on  49th  Parallel,  1875. 


THE   GENESIS   AND   MIGRATIONS   OF   PLANTS      223 

Port  McNeil  in  the  north  of  Vancouver  Island,  which  is  as 
large  as  that  of  the  modern  species,  and  very  similar  in  form. 
Thus  this  beautiful  vegetable  type  culminated  long  geological 
ages  ago,  and  was  represented  by  many  species,  no  doubt  occu- 
pying a  prominent  place  in  the  forests  of  the  northern  hemi- 
sphere. To-day  only  a  single  species  exists,  in  our  warmer  re- 
gions, to  keep  up  the  memory  of  this  almost  perished  genus  ; 
but  that  species  is  one  of  our  most  beautiful  trees. 

The  history  of  the  Sequoias  or  giant  Cypresses,  of  which  two 
species  now  exist  in  limited  areas  in  California,  is  still  more 
striking.  These  giant  trees,  monsters  of  the  vegetable  king- 
dom, are,  strange  to  say,  very  limited  in  their  geographical 
range.  The  greater  of  the  two,  Sequoia  gtgantea,  the  giant 
tree  par  excellence,  seems  limited  to  a  few  groves  in  California. 
At  first  sight  this  strikes  us  as  anomalous,  especially  as  we  find 
that  the  tree  will  grow  somewhat  widely  both  in  Europe  and 
America  when  its  seeds  are  sown  in  suitable  soil.  The  mystery 
is  solved  when  we  learn  that  the  two  existing  species  are  but 
survivors  of  a  genus  once  diffused  over  the  whole  northern 
hemisphere,  and  represented  by  many  species,  constituting, 
in  the  Later  Cretaceous  and  Eocene  ages,  vast  and  dark  forests 
extending  over  enormous  areas  of  our  continents,  and  forming 
much  of  the  material  of  the  thick  and  widely  distributed 
Lignite  beds  of  North-western  America.  Thus  the  genus  has 
had  its  time  of  expansion  and  prevalence,  and  is  now  prob- 
ably verging  on  extinction,  not  because  there  are  not  suitable 
habitats,  but  either  because  it  is  now  old  and  moribund,  or 
because  other  and  newer  forms  have  now  a  preference  in  the 
existing  conditions  of  existence. 

The  Plane  trees,  the  Sassafras,  the  curious  Ginkgo  tree  or 
fern-leaved  yew  of  Japan,  are  cases  of  similar  decadence  of 
genera  once  represented  by  many  species,  while  other  trees,  like 
the  Willows  and  Poplars,  the  Maples,  the  Birches,  the  Oaks 
and  the  Pines,  though  of  old  date,  are  still  as  abundant  as 


224      THE   GENESIS  AND   MIGRATIONS   OF   PLANTS 

they  ever  were,  and  some  genera  would  seem  even  to  have 
increased  in  number  of  species,  though  on  the  whole  the  flora 
of  our  modern  woods  is  much  less  rich  than  those  of  the 
Miocene  and  Eocene,  or  even  than  that  of  the  Later  Cre- 
taceous. The  early  Tertiary  periods  were,  as  we  know,  times  of 
exuberant  and  gigantic  animal  life  on  the  land,  and  it  is  in  con- 
nection with  this  that  the  vegetable  world  seems  to  have 
attained  its  greatest  variety  and  luxuriance.  Even  that  early 
post-glacial  age  in  which  primitive  man  seems  first  to  have 
spread  himself  over  our  continents  was  one  richer  both  in 
animal  and  plant  life  than  the  present.  The  geographical 
changes  which  closed  this  period  and  inaugurated  the  modern 
era  seem  to  have  reduced  not  only  the  area  of  the  continents 
but  the  variety  of  land  life  in  a  very  remarkable  manner.  Thus 
our  last  lesson  from  the  genesis  and  migrations  of  plants  is 
the  humbling  one  that  the  present  world  is  by  no  means  the 
best  possible  in  so  far  as  richness  of  vegetable  and  animal  life 
is  concerned. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  utility  of  fossil  plants  as 
evidence  of  climate ;  but  the  subject  deserves  more  detailed 
notice.  I  have  often  pondered  on  the  nature  of  the  climate 
evidenced  by  the  floras  of  the  Devonian  and  Carboniferous ;  but 
the  problem  is  a  difficult  one,  not  only  because  of  the  peculiar 
character  of  the  plants  themselves,  so  unlike  those  of  our  time, 
but  because  of  the  probably  different  meteorological  conditions 
of  the  period.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  a  flora  of  tree-ferns,  great 
lycopods  and  pines  is  more  akin  to  that  of  oceanic  islands  in 
warm  latitudes  than  anything  else  that  we  know.  But  the 
Devonian  and  Carboniferous  plants  did  not  flourish  in  oceanic 
islands,  but  for  the  most  part  on  continental  areas  of  consider- 
able dimensions,  though  probably  more  flat  and  less  elevated 
than  those  of  the  present  day.  They  also  grew,  from  Arctic 
latitudes,  almost,  if  not  altogether,  to  the  equator ;  and  though 
there  are  generic  differences  in  the  plants  of  these  periods  in 


THE   GENESIS   AND   MIGRATIONS   OF   PLANTS      225 

the  southern  hemisphere,  yet  these  do  not  affect  the  general 
facies.  There  are,  for  example,  characteristic  Lepidodendroids 
in  the  Devonian  and  Carboniferous  of  Brazil,  Australia,  and 
South  Africa.  If  now  we  consider  the  plants  a  little  more  in 
detail,  coniferous  and  taxine  trees  grow  now  in  very  different 
latitudes  and  climates.  There  is  therefore  nothing  so  very 
remarkable  in  their  occurrence.  The  great  group  of  Cordaites 
may  have  been  equally  hardy ;  but  it  is  noteworthy  that  their 
geographical  distribution  is  more  limited.  In  Europe,  for 
example,  they  are  more  characteristic  in  France  than  in  Great 
Britain.  Ferns  and  Lycopods  and  Mares'-tails  are  also  cosmo- 
politan, but  the  larger  species  belong  to  the  warmer  climates, 
and  nowhere  at  present  do  they  become  so  woody  and  so  com- 
plex in  structure  as  they  were  in  the  older  geological  periods. 
At  the  present  day,  however,  they  love  moisture  rather  than 
aridity,  and  uniformity  of  temperature  rather  than  extreme 
light  and  heat.  The  natural  inference  would  be  that  in  these 
older  periods  geographical  and  other  conditions  must  have 
conspired  to  produce  a  uniform  and  moist  climate  over  a  large 
portion  of  the  continents.  The  geographical  conditions  of 
the  Carboniferous  age,  and  the  distribution  of  animal  life  on 
the  sea  and  land,  confirm  the  conclusion  based  on  the  flora. 
Further,  if,  as  seems  probable,  there  was  a  larger  proportion  of 
carbon  dioxide  in  the  atmosphere  than  at  present,  this  would 
not  only  directly  affect  the  growth  of  plants,  but  would  im- 
pede radiation,  and  so  prevent  escape  of  heat  by  that  means, 
while  the  moisture  exhaled  from  inland  seas  and  lagoons  and 
vastly  extended  swamps,  would  tend  in  the  same  direction. 

It  would,  however,  be  a  mistake  to  infer  that  there  were  not 
local  differences  of  climate.  I  have  elsewhere l  advocated  the 
theory  that  the  great  ridge  of  boulders,  the  New  Glasgow  con- 
glomerate, which  forms  one  margin  of  the  coal  field  of  Picton, 

1  "  Acadian  Geology,''  Carboniferous  of  Picton. 


226      THE   GENESIS   AND   MIGRATIONS   OF    PLANTS 

in  Nova  Scotia,  is  an  ice-formed  ridge  separating  the  area  of 
accumulation  of  the  great  thirty-six  feet  seam  from  an  outer 
area  in  which  aqueous  conditions  prevailed,  and  little  coal  was 
formed.  In  this  case,  an  ice-laden  sea,  carrying  boulders  on 
its  floes  and  fields  of  ice,  must  have  been  a  few  miles  distant 
from  forests  of  Lepidodendra,  Cordaites,  and  Sigillariae,  and  the 
climate  must  have  been  anything  but  warm,  at  least  at  certain 
seasons.  Nor  have  we  a  right  to  infer  that  the  growth  of  the 
coal-plants  was  rapid.  Stems,  with  woody  axes  and  a  thick 
bark,  containing  much  fibrous  and  thick-walled  cellular  tissue, 
are  not  to  be  compared  with  modern  succulent  plants,  es- 
pecially when  we  consider  the  sparse  and  rigid  foliage  of  many 
of  them.  Our  conclusion  should,  therefore,  be  that  geographi- 
cal conditions  and  the  abundance  of  carbon  dioxide  in  the 
atmosphere  favoured  a  moist  climate  and  uniform  temperature, 
and  that  the  flora  was  suited  to  these  conditions. 

As  to  the  early  Mesozoic  flora,  I  have  already  suggested  that 
it  must  have  been  an  invader  from  the  south,  for  which  the 
intervening  Permian  age  had  made  way  by  destroying  the 
Palaeozoic  flora.  This  was  probably  effected  by  great  earth- 
movements  changing  geograohical  conditions.  But  in  the 
Mesozoic  the  old  conditions  to  some  extent  returned,  and  the 
Carboniferous  plants  being  extinct,  their  places  were  taken  by 
pines,  lycopods,  and  ferns,  whose  previous  home  had  been  in  the 
insular  regions  of  the  tropics,  and  which,  as  climatal  conditions 
improved,  pushed  their  way  to  the  Arctic  circle.  But,  being 
derivatives  of  warm  regions,  their  vitality  and  capacity  for 
variation  were  not  great,  and  they  only  locally  and  in  favourable 
conditions  became  great  coal  producers.  The  new  flora  of  the 
Later  Cretaceous  and  the  Tertiary,  as  previously  stated,  origi- 
nated in  the  Arctic,  and  marched  southward. 

These  newer  Cretaceous  plants  presented  from  the  first  the 
generic  aspects  of  modern  vegetation,  and  so  enable  us  much 
better  to  gauge  their  climatal  conditions.  In  general,  they  do 


THE   GENESIS   AND   MIGRATIONS   OF   PLANTS      22/ 

not  indicate  tropical  heat  in  the  far  north,  but  only  that  of  the 
warm  temperate  zone ;  but  this  in  some  portions  of  the  period 
certainly  extends  to  the  middle  of  Greenland,  unless,  without 
any  evidence,  we  suppose  that  the  Cretaceous  and  lower  Tertiary 
plants  differed  in  hardiness  of  constitution  from  their  modern 
representatives.  They  prove,  however,  considerable  oscillations 
of  climate.  Gardner,  Nathorst  and  Reid  have  shown  this  in 
Europe,  and  that  it  extends  from  the  almost  tropical  flora  of 
the  lower  Eocene  to  the  Arctic  flora  of  the  Pleistocene.  In 
America,  owing,  as  Grey  has  suggested,  to  its  great  north  and 
south  extension,  the  changes  were  more  regular  and  gradual. 
In  the  warmer  periods  of  the  Cretaceous,  the  flora  as  far  north 
as  55°  was  similar  to  that  of  Georgia  and  Northern  Florida  at 
the  present  day,  while  in  the  cooler  period  of  the  Laramie 
(Lower  Eocene,  or  more  probably  Paleocene)  it  was  not  un- 
like that  of  the  Middle  States.  In  the  Pleistocene,  the  flora 
indicates  a  boreal  temperature  in  the  Glacial  age.  Thus  there 
are  no  very  extreme  contrasts,  but  the  evident  fact  of  a  warm 
temperate  or  sub-tropical  climate  extending  very  far  north  at 
the  same  times  when  Greenland  had  a  temperate  climate.  As 
I  have  elsewhere  shown,1  discoveries  in  various  parts  of  North 
America  are  beginning  to  indicate  the  precise  geographical 
conditions  accompanying  the  warmer  and  colder  climates. 

It  would  be  wrong  to  leave  this  subject  without  noticing 
that  remarkable  feature  in  the  southward  movement  of  the 
later  floras,  to  which  I  believe  Prof.  Gray  was  the  first  to 
direct  attention.  In.  those  periods  when  a  warm  climate  pre- 
vailed in  the  Arctic  regions,  the  temperate  flora  must  have  been, 
like  the  modern  Arctic  flora,  circumpolar.  When  obliged  to 
migrate  to  the  south,  it  had  to  follow  the  lines  of  the  con- 
tinents, and  so  to  divide  into  separate  belts.  Three  of  these 
at  present  are  the  floras  of  Western  Europe,  Eastern  Asia, 
and  Eastern  America,  all  of  which  have  many  representative 
1  Trans.  Royal  Society  of  Canada,  1890-1. 


228      THE   GENESIS   AND   MIGRATIONS   OF   PLANTS 

species.  They  are  separated  by  oceans  and  by  belts  of  land 
occupied  by  plants  which  have  not  been  obliged  to  migrate. 
Thus,  while  the  flora  of  the  Eastern  United  States  resembles 
that  of  China  and  Japan,  that  of  California  and  Oregon  is 
distinct  from  both,  and  represents  a  belt  of  old  species  retained 
in  place  by  the  continued  warmth  of  the  Pacific  shore,  and  the 
continuous  extension  of  the  American  continent  to  the  south 
affording  them  means  of  retreat  in  the  Glacial  age.  Were  the 
plants  of  China  and  Eastern  America  enabled  to  return  to  the 
Arctic,  they  would  then  reunite  into  one  flora.  Gray  compares 
the  process  of  their  separation  to  the  kind  of  selection  which 
might  be  made  by  a  botanical  distributor  who  had  the  whole 
collection  placed  in  his  hands,  with  instructions  to  give  one 
species  of  each  genus  to  Europe,  to  Eastern  Asia,  and  to 
Eastern  America;  and  if  there  was  only  one  species  in  a 
genus,  or  if  one  remained  over,  this  was  to  be  thrown  into  one 
of  the  regions,  with  a  certain  preference  in  favour  of  America 
and  Asia.  This  remarkable  kind  of  geographical  selection 
opens  a  wide  field  not  only  for  thought,  but  for  experiment  on 
the  actual  relationship  of  the  representative  species.  There  is 
a  similar  field  for  comparison  between  the  trees  of  Georgia  in 
latitude  30°  to  35°,  and  the  same  species  or  their  representa- 
tives as  they  existed  in  Cretaceous  times  in  the  latitudes  of 
50°  and  60°.  The  two  floras,  as  I  know  from  actual  com- 
parison, are  very  similar. 

One  word  may  be  said  here  as  to  use  of  fossil  plants  in 
determining  geological  time.  In  this  I  need  only  point  to 
the  fact  of  my  having  defined  in  Canada  three  Devonian 
floras,  a  Lower,  Middle, -and  Upper,  and  that  Mr.  Whiteaves,  in 
his  independent  study  of  the  fossil  fishes,  has  vindicated  my 
conclusions.  There  are  also  in  Nova  Scotia  three  distinctive 
sub-floras  of  the  Lower,  Middle,  and  Upper  Carboniferous.1  I 

1  Transactions  Royal  Society  of  Canada,  1883  to  1891. 


THE   GENESIS   AND   MIGRATIONS   OF   PLANTS      22p 

have  verified  these  for  the  Devonian  and  Carboniferous  of  the 
United  States,  and  to  some  extent  also  for  those  of  Europe. 
To  the  same  effect  is  the  recognition  of  the  Kootanie  or 
Lower  Cretaceous,  the  Middle  Cretaceous,  Upper  Cretaceous, 
Laramie  and  Miocene  in  Western  Canada.  These  have  in  all 
cases  corresponded  with  the  indications  of  animal  fossils  *  and 
of  stratigraphy.  Fossil  plants  have  been  less  studied  in  this 
connection  than  fossil  animals,  but  I  have  no  hesitation  in 
affirming  that,  with  reference  to  the  broader  changes  of  the 
earth's  surface,  any  competent  palasobotanist  is  perfectly  safe 
in  trusting  to  the  evidence  of  vegetable  fossils. 

It  may  be  objected  that  such  evidence  will  be  affected  by  the 
migrations  of  plants,  so  that  we  cannot  be  certain  that  identical 
species  flourished  in  Greenland  and  in  temperate  America  at 
the  same  time.  If  such  species  originated  in  Greenland  and 
migrated  southward,  the  specimens  found  at  the  south  may  be 
much  newer  than  those  in  the  north.  This,  no  doubt,  is 
locally  true,  but  the  migrations  of  plants,  though  slow,  occupy 
less  time  than  that  of  a  great  geological  period.  It  may  also  be 
objected  that  the  flora  of  swamps,  plains,  and  mountain  tops 
would  differ  at  any  one  period.  This  also  is  true,  but  the  same 
difficulty  applies  to  animals  of  the  deep  sea,  the  shore,  and  the 
land ;  and  these  diversities  of  station  have  always  to  be  taken 
into  account  by  the  palaeontologist. 

REFERENCES  : — Report  on  the  Erian  or  Devonian  Plants  of  Canada, 
Montreal,  1871.  Article  in  Princeton.  Keview  on  Genesis  and 
Migrations  of  Plants.  "  The  Geological  History  of  Plants,"  London 
and  New  York,  1888  and  1892.  Papers  on  Fossil  Plants  of  Western 
Canada,  1883,  and  following  volumes  of  Transactions  of  Royal 
Society  of  Canada. 


NOTE. — Since  writing  the  above,   I  have  obtained  access  to  Dall  and 
Harris'    "  Neocene    Correlation    Papers,"  which  throw   some   additional 

1  Reports  on  Fossil  Plants  of  the  Devonian  and  Lower  Carboniferous. 


230    THE   GENESIS   AND    MIGRATIONS   OF   PLANTS 

light  on  the  Cretaceous  and  Eocene  Floras  of  Alaska,  which,  from  its  high 
northern  latitude,  affords  a  good  parallel  to  Greenland.  It  would  appear 
that  plant  beds  occur  in  that  territory  at  two  horizons.  One  of  these 
(Cape  Beaufort),  according  to  Lesquereux  and  Ward,  holds  species  of 
Neocomian  Age,  and  apparently  equivalent  to  the  Kootanie  of  British 
Columbia  and  the  Kome  of  Greenland.  The  other,  which  occurs  at 
several  localities  (Elukak,  Port  Graham,  etc.),  has  a  flora  evidently  of 
Laramie  (Eocene)  age,  equivalent  to  the  "Miocene"  of  Heer  and  Les- 
quereux, and  to  the  Lignite  Tertiary  of  Canada.  The  plants  are  accom- 
panied by  lignite,  and  evidently  in  situ,  and  clearly  prove  harmony  with 
Greenland  and  British  Columbia  in  two  of  the  periods  of  high  Arctic 
temperature  indicated  above. 


THE   GROWTH  OF  COAL. 

DEDICATED   TO   THE    MEMORY    OF 
DR.     SCHIMPER, 

OF   STRASBURG, 
THE  AUTHOR  OF  "LA  FLORE  DU  MONDE  PRIMITIF,"  AND 

MANY  OTHER   CONTRIBUTIONS  TO   FOSSIL   BOTANY, 
AND   OF 

DR.    H.    R.    GOEPPERT, 

VHOSE  ESSAY  ON  THE  STRUCTURE  AND  FORMATION  OF  COAL 
WAS  ONE  OF  MY  FIRST  GUIDES  IN  ITS  STUDY. 


QUESTIONS  OF  GROWTH  AND  DRIFTAGE — TESTIMONY  OF  A 
BLOCK  OF  COAL  UNDER  THE  MICROSCOPE — DIFFERENT 
KINDS  OF  COAL — CONDITIONS  NECESSARY  TO  ACCUMU- 
LATION IN  SITU — COAL  BEDS  AND  THEIR  ACCOMPANI- 
MENTS— UNDERCLAYS  AND  ROOFS — VEGETABLE  REMAINS 
— HISTORY  OF  COAL  GROUPS — SUMMARY  OF  EVIDENCE — 
SUBSIDENCE  OF  COAL  AREAS—  STIGMARIA  AND  OTHER 
COAL  PLANTS — LATER  COAL  ACCUMULATIONS — THE 
STORY  AND  USES  OF  COAL 


PART  OF  A  COAL  GROUP,  at  the  South  Joggins,  with  underclays  and 
erect  trees  and  Calamites  (p.  238). 


CHAPTER   IX. 
THE   GROWTH  OF  COAL. 

MY  early  boyhood  was  spent  on  the  Coal  formation  rocks 
and  in  the  vicinity  of  collieries ;  and  among  my  first 
natural  history  collections,  in  a  childish  museum  of  many 
kinds  of  objects,  were  some  impressions  of  fern  leaves  from  the 
shales  of  the  coal  series.  It  came  to  pass  in  this  way  that  the 
Carboniferous  rocks  were  those  which  I  first  studied  as  an 
embryo  geologist,  and  much  of  my  later  work  has  consisted  in 
collecting  and  determining  the  plants  of  that  ancient  period,  and 
in  studying  microscopic  sections  of  coals  and  fossil  woods  ac- 
companying them.  For  this  reason,  and  because  I  have  pub- 
lished so  much  on  this  subject,  my  first  decision  was  to  leave 
it  out  of  these  Salient  Points:  but  on  second  thoughts  it 
seemed  that  this  might  be  regarded  as  a  dereliction  of  duty ; 
more  especially  as  some  of  the  conclusions  supposed  to  be  the 
best  established  on  this  subject  have  recently  been  called  in 
question. 

Had  I  been  writing  a  few  years  ago,  I  might  have  referred  to 
the  mode  of  formation  of  coal  as  one  of  the  things  most  surely 
settled  and  understood.  The  labours  of  many  eminent  geolo- 
gists, microscopists  and  chemists  in  the  old  and  the  new  worlds 
had  shown  that  coal  nearly  always  rests  upon  old  soil-surfaces 
penetrated  with  roots,  and  that  coal  beds  have  in  their  roofs 
erect  trees,  the  remains  of  the  last  forests  that  grew  upon  them. 
Logan  and  the  writer  have  illustrated  this  in  the  case  of  the 
series  of  more  than  eighty  successive  coal  beds  exposed  at  the 


234  THE   GROWTH   OF   COAL 

South  Joggins,  and  of  the  great  thirty  feet  seam  of  the  Picton 
coal  series,  whose  innumerable  laminae  have  all  been  subjected 
to  careful  scrutiny,  and  have  shown  unequivocal  evidence  of 
land  surfaces  accompanying  the  deposition  of  the  coal.  Micro- 
scopical examination  has  proved  that  these  coals  are  composed 
of  the  materials  of  the  same  trees  whose  roots  are  found  in  the 
underclays,  and  their  stems  and  leaves  in  the  roof  shales  ;  that 
much  of  the  material  of  the  coal  has  been  partially  subjected  to 
subaerial  decay  at  the  time  of  its  accumulation  ;  and  that  in 
this,  ordinary  coal  differs  from  bituminous  shale,  earthy  bit- 
umen and  some  kinds  of  cannel,  which  have  been  formed  under 
water;  that  the  matter  remaining  as  coal  consists  almost  entirely 
of  epidermal  tissues,  which  being  suberose  or  corky  in  char- 
acter are  highly  carbonaceous,  very  durable  and  impermeable 
by  water,  and  are,  hence,  the  best  fitted  for  the  production  of 
pure  coal ;  and  finally,  that  the  vegetation  and  the  climatal  and 
geographical  features  of  the  coal  period  were  eminently  fitted 
to  produce  in  the  vast  swamps  of  that  period  precisely  the 
effects  observed.  All  these  points  and  many  others  have  been 
thoroughly  worked  out  for  both  European  and  American  coal 
fields,  and  seemed  to  leave  no  doubt  on  the  subject.  But 
several  years  ago  certain  microscopists  observed  in  slices  of 
coal,  thin  layers  full  of  spore  cases,  a  not  unusual  circumstance, 
since  these  were  shed  in  vast  abundance  by  the  trees  of  the 
coal  forests,  and  because  they  contain  suberose  matter  of  the 
same  character  with  epidermal  tissues  generally.  Immediately 
we  were  informed  that  all  coal  consists  of  spores,  and  this  being 
at  once  accepted  by  the  unthinking,  the  results  of  the  labours 
of  many  years  are  thrown  aside  in  favour  of  this  crude  and 
partial  theory.  A  little  later,  a  German  microscopist  has 
thought  proper  to  describe  coal  as  made  up  of  minute  algae,  and 
tries  to  reconcile  this  view  with  the  appearances,  devising  at  the 
same  time  a  new  and  formidable  nomenclature  of  generic  and 
specific  names,  which  would  seem  largely  to  represent  mere 


THE  GROWTH   OF   COAL  235 

fragments  of  tissues.  Still  later,  some  local  facts  in  a  French 
coal  field  have  induced  an  eminent  observer  of  that  country  to 
revive  the  drift  theory  of  coal,  in  opposition  to  that  of  growth 
in  situ.  Views  of  this  kind  have  also  recently  been  advanced 
in  England  by  some  of  those  younger  men  who  would  earn  dis- 
tinction rather  by  overthrowing  the  work  of  their  seniors  than 
by  building  on  it.  These  writers  base  their  conclusions  on  a 
few  exceptional  facts,  as  the  occasional  occurrence  of  seams  of 
coal  without  distinct  underlays,  and  the  occurrence  of  clay 
partings  showing  aquatic  conditions  in  the  substance  of  thick 
coals  ;  and  they  fail  to  discern  the  broader  facts  which  these  ex- 
ceptions confirm.  Let  us  consider  shortly  the  essential  nature 
of  coal,  and  some  of  the  conditions  necessary  to  its  forma- 
tion. 

A  block  of  the  useful  mineral  which  is  so  important  an  element 
in  national  wealth,  and  so  essential  to  the  comfort  of  our  winter 
homes,  may  tell  us  much  as  to  its  history  if  properly  interro- 
gated, and  what  we  cannot  learn  from  it  alone  we  may  be  taught 
by  studying  it  in  the  mine  whence  it  is  obtained,  and  in  the 
cliffs  and  cuttings  where  the  edges  of  the  coaly  beds  and  their 
accompaniments  are  exposed. 

Our  block  of  coal,  if  anthracite,  is  almost  pure  carbon.  If 
bituminous  coal,  it  contains  also  a  certain  amount  of  hydrogen, 
which  in  combination  with  carbon  enables  it  to  yield  gas  and 
coal  tar,  and  which  causes  it  to  burn  with  flame.  If,  again,  we 
examine  some  of  the  more  imperfect  and  more  recent  coals,  the 
brown  coals,  so  called,  we  shall  find  that  in  composition  and 
texture  they  are  intermediate  between  coal  proper  and  hardened 
or  compressed  peat.  Now  such  coaly  rocks  can,  under  the 
present  constitution  of  nature,  be  produced  only  in  one  way, 
namely,  by  the  accumulation  of  vegetable  matter,  for  vegetation 
alone  has  the  power  of  decomposing  the  carbonic  acid  of  the 
atmosphere,  and  accumulating  it  as  carbon.  This  we  see  in 
modern  times  in  the  vegetable  soil,  in  peaty  beds,  and  in 


236  THE   GROWTH   OF   COAL 

vegetable  muck  accumulated  in  ponds  and  similar  places. 
Such  vegetable  matter,  once  accumulated,  requires  only  pressure 
and  the  changes  which  come  of  its  own  slow  putrefaction  to  be 
converted  into  coal. 

But  in  order  that  it  may  accumulate  at  all,  certain  conditions 
are  necessary.  The  first  of  these  includes  the  climatal  and  or- 
ganic arrangements  necessary  for  abundant  vegetable  growth. 
The  second  is  the  facility  for  the  preservation  of  the  vegetable 
matter,  without  decay  or  intermixture  with  earthy  substances  ; 
and  this,  for  a  long  time,  till  a  great  thickness  of  it  accumulates. 
The  third  is  its  covering  up  by  other  deposits,  so  as  to  be  com- 
pressed and  excluded  from  air.  It  is  evident  that  when  we  have 
to  consider  the  formation  of  a  bed  of  coal  several  feet  in  thick- 
ness, and  spread,  perhaps,  over  hundreds  of  square  miles,  many 
things  must  conduce  to  such  a  result,  and  the  wonder  is  perhaps 
rather  that  such  conditions  should  ever  have  been  effectively 
combined.  Yet  this  has  occurred  at  different  periods  of  geo- 
logical history  and  in  many  places,  and  in  some  localities  it  has 
been  so  repeated  as  to  produce  many  beds  of  coal  in  succes- 
sion. 

Let  us  now  question  our  block  of  coal  as  to  its  origin,  sup- 
posing it  to  be  a  piece  of  ordinary  bituminous  coal,  or  still  better, 
a  specimen  of  one  of  the  impure  somewhat  shaly  coals  which 
one  sometimes  finds  accidentally  in  the  coal  bin.  In  look- 
ing at  the  edge  of  our  specimen  we  observe  that  it  has  a  "  reed  " 
or  grain,  which  corresponds  with  the  lamination  or  bedding  of 
the  seam  of  coal  from  which  it  came.  Looking  at  this  carefully, 
we  shall  see  that  there  are  many  thin  layers  of  bright  shining 
coal,  and  the  more  of  these  usually  the  better  the  coal.  These 
layers,  in  tracing  them  along,  we  observe  often  to  thin  out  and 
disappear.  They  are  not  very  continuous.  If  our  specimen  is 
an  impure  coal,  we  will  find  that  it  readily  splits  along  the  sur- 
faces of  these  layers,  and  that  when  so  split,  we  can  see  that  each 
layer  of  shining  coal  has  certain  markings,  perhaps  the  flattened 


THE   GROWTH   OF   COAL  237 

ribs  and  scars  of  Sigillaria  or  other  coal-formation  trees  on 
its  surface.  In  other  words,  the  layers  of  fine  coal  are  usually 
flattened  trunks  and  branches  of  trees,  or  perhaps  rather  of  the 
imperishable  and  impermeable  bark  of  such  trees,  the  wood 
having  perished.  A  few  very  thin  layers  of  shining  coal  we  may 
also  find  to  consist  of  the  large-ribbed  leaves  of  the  plant  known 
as  Cordaites.  This  kind  of  coaly  matter  then  usually  represents 
trunks  of  trees  which  in  a  prostrate  and  flattened  state  may 
constitute  more  than  half  of  the  bulk  of  ordinary  coal-formation 
coal.  Under  the  microscope  this  variety  of  coal  shows  little 
structure,  and  this  usually  the  thickened  cells  of  cortical  tissue. 
Intervening  between  these  layers  we  perceive  lamina?,  more  or 
less  thick  and  continuous,  of  what  we  may  call  dull  coal,  black 
but  not  shining  ;  resembling,  in  fact,  the  appearance  of  cannel 
coal.  If  we  split  the  coal  along  one  side  of  these  layers,  and 
examine  it  in  a  strong  light,  we  may  see  shreds  of  leaf  stalks 
and  occasionally  even  of  fern  leaves,  or  skeletons  of  these,  show- 
ing the  veins,  and  many  flattened  disc-like  bodies,  spore  cases 
and  macrospores,  shed  by  the  plants  which  make  up  the  coal. 
These  layers  represent  what  may  be  called  compressed 
vegetable  mould  or  muck,  and  this  is  by  no  means  a  small 
constituent  of  many  coals.  This  portion  of  the  coal  is  the 
most  curious  and  interesting  in  microscopic  slices,  showing  a 
great  variety  of  tissues  and  many  spores  and  spore  cases. 
Lastly,  we  find  on  the  surface  of  the  coal,  when  split  parallel  to 
the  bedding,  a  quantity  of  soft  shining  fibrous  material,  known 
as  mineral  charcoal  or  mother  coal,  which  in  some  varieties  of 
the  mineral  is  very  abundant,  in  others  much  more  rare.  This 
is  usually  too  soft  and  incoherent  to  be  polished  in  thin  slices 
for  the  microscope  ;  but  if  boiled  for  a  length  of  time  in  nitric 
acid,  so  as  to  separate  all  the  mineral  matter  contained  in  it, 
the  fibres  sometimes  become  beautifully  translucent  and  reveal 
the"  tissues  of  the  wood  of  various  kinds  of  Carboniferous  trees, 
more  especially  of  Calamites,  Cordaites  and  Sigillariae.  Fibres 


238  THE   GROWTH   OF   COAL 

of  mineral  charcoal  prepared  in  this  way  are  often  very  beauti- 
ful microscopic  objects  under  high  powers  ;  and  this  material  of 
the  coal  is  nothing  else  than  little  blocks  of  rotten  wood  and 
fibrous  bark,  broken  up  and  scattered  over  the  surface  of  the 
forming  coal  bed.  All  these  materials,  it  must  be  observed,  have 
been  so  compressed  that  the  fragments  of  decayed  wood  have 
been  flattened  into  films,  the  vegetable  mould  consolidated  into 
a  stony  mass,  and  trunks  of  great  trees  converted  by  enormous 
pressure  into  laminae  of  shining  coal,  a  tenth  of  an  inch  in  thick- 
ness, so  that  the  whole  material  has  been  reduced  to  perhaps 
one-hundredth  of  its  original  volume. 

Restoring  the  mass  in  imagination  to  its  original  state,  what 
do  we  find  ?  A  congeries  of  prostate  trunks  with  their  interstices 
filled  with  vegetable  muck  or  mould,  and  occasional  surfaces 
where  rotten  wood,  disintegrated  into  fragments,  was  washed 
about  in  local  floods  or  rain  storms,  and  thus  thrown  over  the 
surface.  Lyell  seems  very  nearly  to  have  hit  the  mark  when 
he  regarded  the  conditions  of  the  great  dismal  swamp  of 
Virginia  as  representing  those  of  a  nascent  coal  field.  We 
have  only  to  realize  in  the  coal  period  the  existence  of  a  dense 
vegetation  very  different  from  that  of  modern  Virginia,  of  a 
humid  and  mild  climate,  and  of  a  vast  extension  of  low 
swampy  plains,  to  restore  the  exact  conditions  of  the  coal 
swamps. 

But  how  does  this  correspond  with  the  facts  observed  in 
mines  and  sections  ?  To  the  late  Sir  William  Logan  is  due  the 
merit  of  observing  that  in  South  Wales  the  underclays  or  beds 
of  indurated  clay  and  earth  underlying  the  coal  seams  are 
usually  filled  with  the  long  cylindrical  rootlets  and  branching 
roots  of  a  curious  plant,  very  common  in  the  coal  formation, 
the  Stigmaria.  He  afterwards  showed  that  the  same  fact 
occurs  in  the  very  numerous  coal  beds  exposed  in  the  fine 
section  cut  by  the  tides  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  in  the  coal  rocks 
of  Nova  Scotia.  In  that  district  I  have  myself  followed  up 


THE  GROWTH   OF   COAL  239 

his  observations,  examining  in  detail  every  one  of  eighty-one 
Coal  Groups,  as  I  have  called  them,  each  consisting  of  at 
least  one  bed  of  coal,  large  or  small,  with  its  accompaniments, 
and  in  many  cases  of  several  small  seams  with  intervening 
clays  or  shales. *  In  nearly  every  case  the  Stigmaria  "  under- 
clay "  is  distinctly  recognisable,  and  often  in  a  single  coal 
group  there  are  several  small  seams  separated  by  underclays 
with  roots  and  rootlets.  These  underclays  are  veritable  fossil 
soils ;  sometimes  bleached  clays  or  sands,  like  the  subsoils  of 
modern  swamps  ;  sometimes  loamy  or  sandy,  or  of  the  nature 
of  hardened  vegetable  mould.  They  rarely  contain  any  remains 
of  aquatic  animals,  or  of  animals  of  any  kind,  but  are  filled 
with  stigmaria  roots  and  rootlets,  and  sometimes  hold  a  few 
prostrate  stems  of  trees.2  While  the  underclay  is  thus  a  fossil 
soil,  the  roof  or  bed  above  the  coal,  usually  of  a  shaly  char- 
acter, is  full  of  remains  of  leaves  and  stems  and  fruits,  and 
often  holds  erect  stumps,  the  remains  of  the  last  trees  that 
grew  in  the  swamp  before  it  was  finally  covered  up. 

Some  of  the  thinnest  coals,  and  some  beds  so  thin  and 
impure  that  they  can  scarcely  be  called  coals  at  all,  are  the 
most  instructive.  Witness  the  following  from  my  section  of 
the  South  Joggins. 

Coal  Group  i,  of  Division  3,  is  the  highest  of  the  series.  Its 
section  is  as  follows  : — 

"  Grey  argillaceous  shale. 
Coal,  i  inch. 
Grey  argillaceous  underclay,  Stigmaria. 

"The   roof  holds   abundance  of   fern   leaves  (Alethopteris 

1  For  details  see  Journal  Geol.  Society  of  London,  1865  ;  and  "  Acadian 
Geology,"  last  edition,  1891. 

2  At  the  South  Joggins,  in  two  or  three  cases,  beds  of  bituminous  shale 
full  of  Naiadites  and   Cyprids  have  by  elevation  and   drying   become  fit 
for  the  growth  of  trees  with  stigmaria  roots  ;  but  this  is  quite  exceptional, 
no  doubt  arising  from  the  accidental  draining  of  lakes  or  lagoons  on  their 
elevation  above  the  sea  level. 


240  THE   GROWTH   OF   COAL 

loncJiitica).  The  coal  is  coarse  and  earthy,  with  much  epider- 
mal and  bast  tissue,  spore  cases,  etc.,  vascular  bundles  of  ferns 
and  impressions  of  bark  of  Sigillaria  and  leaves  of  Cordaites. 
It  may  be  considered  as  a  compressed  vegetable  soil  resting  on 
a  subsoil  full  of  rootlets  of  Stigmaria."  In  this  case  the  coal  is 
an  inch  in  thickness,  but  there  are  many  beds  where  the  coal 
is  a  mere  film,  and  supports  great  erect  stems  of  Sigillaria, 
sending  downward  their  roots  in  the  form  of  branching 
Stigmarise  into  the  underclay,  thus  proving  that  the  Stigmarije 
of  the  underclays  are  the  roots  of  the  Sigillarise  of  the  coals 
and  their  roofs. 

Here  is  another  example  which  may  be  called  a  coal  group, 
and  is  No.  1 1  of  the  same  division  : 

"  Grey  argillaceous  shale,  erect  Calamites. 

Coal,  i  inch. 

Grey  argillaceous  underclay,  Stigmaria,  ift.  6in. 

Coal,  2  inches. 

Grey  argillaceous  underclay,  Stigmaria,  4  in. 

Coal,  i  inch. 

Grey  argillaceous  underclay,  Stigmaria. 
"  This  is  an  alternation  of  thin,  coarse  coals  with  fossil  soils. 
The  roof  shale  contains  erect  Calamites,  which  seem  to  have 
been  the  last  vegetation  which  grew  on  the  surface  of  the  upper 
coal." 

Such  facts,  with  many  minor  varieties,  extend  through  the 
whole  eighty-one  coal  groups  of  this  remarkable  section,  as 
any  one  may  see  by  referring  to  the  paper  and  work  cited  in 
the  preceding  note.  It  is  possibly  because  in  most  coal  fields 
the  smaller  and  commercially  useless  beds  are  so  little  open  to 
observation,  that  so  crude  ideas  derived  merely  from  imperfect 
access  to  the  beds  that  are  worked  exist  among  geologists.  The 
following  summary  of  facts  may  perhaps  serve  to  place  the 
evidence  as  to  the  mode  of  accumulation  of  coal  fairly  before 
the  reader :  — 


THE   GROWTH   OF   COAL  24! 

(1)  The  occurrence  of  Stigmaria  under  nearly  every  bed  of 
coal  proves,  beyond  question,  that  the  material  was  accum- 
ulated by  growth  in  situ,  while  the  character  of  the  sediments 
intervening  between  the  beds  of  coal  proves  with  equal  cer- 
tainty the  abundant  transport  of  mud  and  sand  by  water.      In 
other  words,  conditions  similar  to  those  of  the  swampy  deltas 
of  great  rivers,  or  the  swampy  flats  of  the  interiors  of  great  con- 
tinents, are  implied. 

(2)  The  true  coal  consists  principally  of  the  flattened  bark 
of  sigillaroid  and  other  trees,  intermixed  with  leaves  of  ferns 
and    Cordaites,   and   other   herbaceous  debris,  including  vast 
numbers   of  spores  and  spore  cases,  and  with  fragments  of 
decayed    wood    constituting    "mineral    charcoal,"    all    their 
materials  having  manifestly  alike  grown  and  accumulated  where 
we  find  them. 

(3)  The  microscopical  structure  and  chemical  composition 
of  the  beds  of  cannel  coal  and   earthy  bitumen,  and  of  the 
more  highly  bituminous  and  carbonaceous  shales,  show  them 
to  have  been  of  the  nature  of  the  fine  vegetable  mud  which 
accumulates  in  the  ponds  and  shallow  lakes  of  modern  swamps. 
These  beds   are   always   distinct   from   true     subaerial    coal. 
When  such  fine  vegetable  sediment  is  mixed,  as  is  often  the 
case,   with  mud,  it  becomes  similar  to  the  bituminous  lime- 
stone and  calcareo-bituminous  shales  of  the  coal  measures. 

(4)  A  few  of  the   underclays  which  support  beds  of  coal 
are  of  the  nature  of  the  vegetable  mud  above  referred  to ;  but 
the  greater  part   are  argillo-arenaceous   in  composition,  with 
little  vegetable  matter,    and  bleached  by  the  drainage  from 
them   of  water  containing  the  products  of  vegetable  decay. 
They  are,  in  short,  loamy  or  clay   soils  in  the  chemical  con- 
dition in  which  we  find  such  soils  under  modern  bogs,  and 
must  have  been  sufficiently  above  water  to  admit  of  drainage. 
The  absence,  or  small  quantity  of  sulphides,  and  the  occur- 
rence of  carbonate  of  iron  in  connection  with  them,  prove  that 


242  THE   GROWTH   OF   COAL 

when  they  existed  as  soils,  rain  water,  and  not  sea  water,  per- 
colated them. 

(5)  The  coal  and  the  fossil  trees  present  many  evidences  of 
subaerial  conditions.      Most  of  the  erect  and  prostrate  trees 
had   become    hollow    shells  of  bark  before  they  were  finally 
imbedded,  and  their  wood  had  broken  into  cubical  pieces  of 
mineral  charcoal.     Land  snails  and  galley  worms  (Xylobius) 
crept  into  them,  and  they  became  dens  or  traps  for  reptiles. 
Large  quantities  of  mineral  charcoal  occur  on  the  surfaces  of 
all  the  larger  beds  of  coal.     None  of  these  appearances  could 
have  been  produced  by  subaqueous  action. 

(6)  Though  the  roots  of  Sigillaria  bear  some  resemblance 
to  the  rhizomes  of  certain  aquatic  plants,  yet  structurally  they 
have  much  resemblance  to  the  roots  of  Cycads,  which  the 
stems  also  resemble.     Further,    the  SigillaricB   grew   on   the 
same  soils  which  supported  conifers,  Lepidodendra,  Cordaites, 
and  ferns,  plants  which  could  not  have  grown  in  water.    Again, 
with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  some  Pinnularicz  and  Astero- 
phyllites,    and    Rhizocarpean    spores,  there    is   a   remarkable 
absence   from   the   coal   measures   of  any   form   of  properly 
aquatic  vegetation. 

(7)  The  occasional  occurrence  of  marine  or  brackish-water 
animals  in  the  roofs  of  coal  beds,  or  even  in  the  coal  itself, 
affords   no  evidence   of  subaqueous  accumulation,  since  the 
same  thing  occurs  in  the  case  of  modern  submarine  forests. 
Such  facts   merely  imply  that  portions   of  the  areas  of  coal 
accumulation   were   liable   to   inundation   of  a  character   so 
temporary  as  not  finally  to  close  the  process,  as  happened  when 
at  last  a  roof  shale  was  deposited  by  water  over  the  coal. 
Cannel  coals  and  bituminous  shales  holding  mussel-like  shells, 
fish  scales,  etc.,  imply  the  existence  sometimes  for  long  periods 
of  ponds,  lakes  or  lagoons  in  the  coal  swamps,  but  ordinary 
coal  did  not  accumulate  in  these.      It  is  in  the  cannels  and 
similar    subaqueous    coals    that    the    macrospores    which    I 


THE   GROWTH   OF   COAL  243 

attribute  in  great  part  to  aquatic  plants,  allied  to  modern 
Salvinia,  etc.,  are  chiefly  found.  * 

For  these  and  other  reasons,  some  of  which  are  more  fully 
stated  in  the  papers  referred  to,  while  I  admit  that  the  areas  of 
coal  accumulation  were  frequently  submerged,  I  must  maintain 
that  the  true  coal  is  a  subaerial  accumulation  by  vegetable 
growth  on  soils  wet  and  swampy,  it  is  true,  but  not  submerged. 
I  would  add  the  further  consideration,  already  urged  elsewhere, 
that  in  the  case  of  the  fossil  forests  associated  with  the  coal,  the 
conditions  of  submergence  and  silting-up  which  have  pre- 
served the  trees  as  fossils,  must  have  been  precisely  those 
which  were  fatal  to  their  existence  as  living  plants,  a  fact 
sufficiently  evident  to  us  in  the  case  of  modern  submarine 
forests,  but  often  overlooked  by  the  framers  of  theories  of  the 
accumulation  of  coal. 

It  seems  strange  that  the  occasional  inequalities  of  the  floors 
of  the  coal  beds,  the  sand  or  gravel  ridges  which  traverse  them, 
the  channels  cut  through  the  coal,  the  occurrence  of  patches 
of  sand,  and  the  insertion  of  wedges  of  such  material  splitting 
the  beds,  have  been  regarded  by  some  able  geologists  as 
evidences  of  the  aqueous  origin  of  coal.  In  truth,  these 
appearances  are  of  constant  occurrence  in  modern  swamps 
and  marshes,  more  especially  near  their  margins,  or  where 
they  are  exposed  to  the  effects  of  ocean  storms  or  river  inun- 
dations. The  lamination  of  the  coal  has  also  been  adduced 
as  a  proof  of  aqueous  deposition  ;  but  the  miscroscope  shows, 
as  I  have  elsewhere  pointed  out,  that  this  is  entirely  different 
from  aqueous  lamination,  and  depends  on  the  superposition  of 
successive  generations  of  more  or  less  decayed  trunks  of  trees 
and  beds  of  leaves.  The  lamination  in  the  truly  aqueous  can- 
nels  and  carbonaceous  shales  is  of  a  very  different  character. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  remark  that  in  the  above  summary 

1  "Geological  History  of  Plants,"  Bulletin  Chicago  Academy  of 
Sciences,  1 886. 


244  THE   GROWTH   OF   COAL 

I  have  had  reference  principally  to  my  own  observations  in  the 
coal  formation  of  Nova  Scotia;  but  similar  facts  have  been 
detailed  by  many  other  observers  in  other  districts. ] 

A  curious  point  in  connection  with  the  origin  of  coal  is  the 
question  how  could  vegetable  matter  be  accumulated  in  such 
a  pure  condition  ?  There  is  less  difficulty  in  regard  to  this  if 
we  consider  the  coal  as  a  swamp  accumulation  in  situ.  It  is 
in  this  way  that  the  purest  vegetable  accumulations  take  place 
at  present,  whereas  in  lakes  and  at  the  mouths  of  rivers  vege- 
table matter  is  always  mixed  up  with  mud.  Coal  swamps, 
however,  must  have  been  liable  to  submergences  or  to  tem- 
porary inundations,  and  it  is  no  doubt  to  these  that  we  have  to 
attribute  the  partings  of  argillaceous  matter  often  found  in  coal 
beds,  as  well  as  the  occasional  gulches  cut  into  the  coal  and 
filled  with  sand  and  lenticular  masses  of  earthy  matter.  To  a 
similar  cause  we  must  also  attribute  the  association  of  cannel 
with  ordinary  coal.  The  cannel  is  really  a  pulpy,  macerate 
mass  of  vegetable  matter  accumulated  in  still  water,  surrounded 
and  perhaps  filled  with  growing  aquatic  herbage.  Hence  it  is 
in  such  beds  that  we  find  the  greatest  accumulations  of  macro- 
spores,  derived,  probably,  in  great  part  from  aquatic  plants. 
Buckland  long  ago  compared  the  matter  of  cannel  to  the 
semifluid  discharge  of  a  bursting  bog,  and  Alex.  Agassiz  has 
more  recently  shown  that  in  times  of  flood  the  vegetable  muck 
of  the  Everglades  of  Florida  flows  out  in  thick  inky  streams, 
and  may  form  large  beds  of  vegetable  matter  having  the 
character  of  the  materials  of  cannel.  It  is  evident  that  in 
swamps  of  so  great  extent  as  those  of  the  coal  formation,  there 
must  have  been  shallow  lakes  and  ponds,  and  wide  sluggish 
streams,  forming  areas  for  the  accumulation  of  vegetable  debris 
and  this  readily  accounts  for  the  association  of  ordinary  beds 
of  coal  with  those  of  cannel,  and  with  bituminous  shales  or 

1  Especially  Brongniart,  Goeppert,  Hawkshaw,  Lyell,  Logan,  De  la 
Boche,  Beaumont,  Binney,  Rogers,  Lesquereux,  Williamson,  Grand'  Eury. 


THE   GROWTH   OF   COAL  245 

earthy  bitumen,  as  well  as  for  the  occurrence  of  scales  of  fish 
and  other  aquatic  animals  in  such  beds.  Lyell's  interesting 
observation  of  the  submerged  areas  at  New  Madrid,  keeping 
free  of  Mississippi  mud,  because  fringed  with  a  filter  of  cane- 
brake,  shows  that  the  areas  of  coal  accumulation  might  often 
be  inundated  without  earthy  deposit,  if,  as  seems  probable, 
they  were  fringed  with  dense  brakes  of  calamites,  sheltering 
them  from  the  influx  of  muddy  water.  It  seems  also  certain 
that  the  water  of  the  coal  areas  would  be  brown  and  laden 
with  imperfect  vegetable  acids,  like  that  of  modern  bogs,  and 
such  water  has  usually  little  tendency  to  deposit  any  mineral 
matter,  even  in  the  pores  of  vegetable  fragments.  The  only 
exception  to  this  is  one  which  also  occurs  in  modern  swamps, 
namely,  the  tendency  to  deposit  iron,  either  as  carbonate  (Clay 
Ironstone),  or  sulphide  (Iron  Pyrite),  both  of  which  are 
products  of  modem  bogs,  and  equally  characteristic  of  the  coal 
swamps. 

Where  great  accumulations  of  sediment  are  going  on,  as  at 
the  mouths  of  modern  rivers,  there  is  a  tendency  to  subsidence 
of  the  area  of  the  deposit,  owing  to  its  weight.  This  applies, 
perhaps,  to  a  greater  extent  to  coal  areas.  Thus  the  area  of  a 
coal  swamp  would  ultimately  sink  so  low  as  to  be  overflowed, 
and  a  roof  shale  would  be  deposited  to  bury  up  the  bed  of 
coal,  and  transmit  it  to  future  ages,  chemically,  and  mechanically 
changed  by  pressure  and  by  that  slow  decomposition  which 
gradually  converts  vegetable  matter  into  carbon  and  hydrocar- 
bons. The  long  continuance  and  great  extent  of  these  alterna- 
tions of  growth  and  subsidence  is  perhaps  the  most  extraordinary 
fact  of  all.  At  the  South  Joggins,  if  we  include  the  surfaces 
having  erect  trees  with  those  having  beds  of  coal,  the  process 
of  growth  of  a  forest  or  bog,  and  its  burial  by  subsidence  and 
deposition  must  have  been  repeated  about  a  hundred  times 
before  the  final  burial  of  the  whole  under  the  thick  sandstones 
of  the  Upper  Carboniferous  and  Permian. 


246  THE   GROWTH   OF   COAL 

Mention  has  been  made  of  Sigillaria  and  other  trees  of  the 
coal  formation  period.  These  trees  and  others  allied  to  them, 
of  which  there  were  many  kinds,  may  be  likened  to  gigantic 
club  mosses,  which  they  resembled  in  fruit  and  foliage,  though 
vastly  more  complex  in  structure  of  stem  and  branch.  Some 
of  them,  perhaps,  were  of  much  higher  rank  than  any  of  the 
modern  plants  most  nearly  allied  to  them.  One  of  their  most 
remarkable  features  was  that  of  their  roots — those  Stigmariae, 
to  which  so  frequent  reference  has  been  made.  They  differed 
from  modern  roots,  not  only  in  some  points  of  structure,  but 
in  their  regular  bifurcation,  and  in  having  huge  root  fibres 
articulated  to  the  roots,  and  arranged  in  a  regular  spiral 
manner,  like  leaves.  They  radiate  regularly  from  a  single  stem, 
and  do  not  seem  to  have  sent  up  buds  or  secondary  stems. 
They  thus  differed  from  the  botanical  definition  of  a  root,  and 
also  from  that  of  a  rhizoma,  or  root  stock  ;  being,  in  short,  a 
primitive  and  generalized  contrivance,  suited  to  trees  them- 
selves primitive  and  generalized,  and  to  special  and  peculiar 
circumstances  of  growth.  Some  botanists  have  imagined  that 
they  were  aquatic  plants,  growing  at  the  bottom  of  lakes,  but 
their  mode  of  occurrence  negatives  this.  I  have  elsewhere 
stated  this  as  follows  : — i 

"  It  is  quite  certain  that  Stigmarise  are  not  '  rhizomes  which 
floated  in  water,  or  spread  themselves  out  on  the  surface  of 
mud.'  Whether  rhizomes  or  not,  they  grew  in  the  soil,  or  in 
the  upper  layers  of  peaty  deposits  since  changed  into  coal. 
The  late  Richard  Brown  and  the  writer  have  shown  that  they 
grew  in  the  underclays  or  fossil  soils,  and  that  their  rootlets 
radiated  in  these  soils  in  all  directions.2  In  one  of  my  papers 
I  have  figured  a  Stigmarian  root  penetrating  through  an  erect 
Sigillaria,  and  Logan,  in  his  Report  of  1845,  had  already 

1  Natural  Science,  May,  1892. 

2  Qtiarl.  Journ,  Geol.  Soc.,  vol.  ii.  p.  394  (1846) ;  Ibid.,  vol.  iv.  p.  47 
(1847)  ;  Ibid.,  vol.  v.  p.  355  (1849);  Ibid.,  vol.  v.  pp.  23,  30. 


THE   GROWTH   OF   COAL  247 

figured  a  similar  example.  The  penetration  of  decaying  stems 
by  the  rootlets  of  Stigmaria  is  a  fact  well  known  to  all  who 
have  studied  slices  of  Carboniferous  plants,1  while  Stigmariae 
are  often  found  creeping  inside  the  bark  of  erect  and  prostrate 
trunks.  Besides  this,  as  I  have  shown  in  '  Acadian  Geology,' 
in  the  section  of  5,000  feet  of  coal  measures  at  the  South 
Joggins  (including  eighty-one  distinct  coal  groups,  and  a  larger 
number  of  soils  with  Stigmaria^  or  erect  trees),  Sigillaria  and 
Stigmaria.  occur  together,  and  the  latter  nearly  always  either 
in  argillaceous  soils,  or  sands  hardened  into  '  Gannister,'  which 
are  often  filled  with  roots  or  rootlets,  or  on  the  surfaces  of 
coal  beds.  On  the  other  hand,  the  numerous  bituminous 
limestones,  and  calcareous  and  other  shales  holding  remains 
of  fishes,  crustaceans,  and  bivalve  shells  do  not  contain 
Stigmaria  in  situ — the  only  exceptions  being  two  beds  of  bitu- 
minous limestone,  the  upper  parts  of  which  have  been  converted 
into  underclays.  This  section,  and  that  of  North  Sydney — two 
of  the  most  complete  and  instructive  in  the  world — have 
afforded  conclusive  proof  of  this  mode  of  growth  of  Sigillaria 
and  Stigmaria. 

"  The  objection  to  calling  the  Stigmariae  roots  and  their 
processes  rootlets,  appears  to  me  a  finical  application  of  modern 
botanical  usages  to  times  for  which  they  do  not  hold.  We 
might  equally  object  to  the  application  of  the  term  roots  to 
those  which  spring  from  the  earthed- up  stems  of  Calamites, 
radiating  as  they  do  from  nodes  which,  in  the  air,  would  pro- 
duce branchlets.  Grand'  Eury's  figures  show  abundant  in- 
stances of  this.  We  might  also  object  to  the  exogenous  stems 
described  by  Williamson,  which  belong  to  cryptogamous 
plants  ;  and,  unlike  anything  modern,  are  made  up  exclusively 
of  scalariform  tissue.  If  the  articulation  and  regular  arrange- 
ment of  those  gigantic  root  hairs,  the  rootlets,  or  'leaves'  of 

1  Williamson  has  noticed  this  in  his  excellent  Memoirs  in  the  Phil. 
Trans. 


248  THE  GROWTH   OF   COAL 

Stigmaria^  are  to  be  regarded  as  depriving  them  of  the  name 
which  clearly  describes  their  function,  we  may  call  them  under- 
ground branches,  though,  by  so  doing,  we  set  at  nought  both 
their  function  and  their  mode  of  growth." 

Dr.  Williamson,  in  a  recent  paper,  expresses  the  same  view 
in  the  following  terms  l : — "  At  that  period  (the  Carboniferous 
age)  no  Angiosperms  existed  on  the  earth,  and  even  the 
Gymnosperms  were  very  far  from  reaching  their  modern 
development.  Under  these  circumstances  the  Cryptogams 
chiefly  became  the  giant  forest  trees  of  that  remote  age.  To 
become  such,  they  required  an  organization  very  different 
in  some  respects  from  that  of  their  degraded  living  representa- 
tives. Hence  we  must  not  appeal  to  these  degenerate  types 
for  illustrations  and  explanations  of  structures  no  longer 
existing.  Still  less  must  we  turn  to  what  we  find  in  the 
Angiosperms,  that  wholly  distinct  race  which  has  taken  the 
place  of  the  primaeval  Cryptogams  in  our  woods.  The  primeval 
giants  of  the  swampy  forests  had  doubtless  a  morphology 
assigned  to  them,  adapted  to  the  physical  conditions  by  which 
they  were  surrounded ;  but  if  even  their  dwarfed  and  other- 
wise modified  descendants  fail  to  throw  light  upon  morphologi- 
cal details  once  so  common,  still  less  must  we  expect  to  obtain 
that  light  from  the  living  and  wholly  different  flowering 
plants." 

With  the  remarkable  trees  above  referred  to,  there  co-existed 
a  vast  multitude  of  ferns,  some  arborescent,  others  herbaceous, 
tall,  reed-like  plants,  the  Calamites,  allied  to  modern  Mares'- 
tails,  a  very  remarkable  family  of  plants  allied  to  modern 
Cycads  and  Pines ;  the  Cordaites,  which  seem  to  have  grown 
plentifully  in  certain  parts  of  the  coal  areas — probably  the 
drier  parts,  so  that  their  remains  sometimes  constitute  the 
greater  part  of  small  seams  of  coal.  There  were  also  true  pine- 
like  trees,  though  "these  would  seem  to  have  grown  most  abun- 
1  Natural  Science,  July,  1892. 


THE   GROWTH   OF   COAL  249 

dantly  on  the  higher  levels.  Nor  was  strictly  aquatic  vegetation 
wanting.  We  find,  both  in  the  preceding  Devonian  and  the 
Carboniferous,  that  the  little  aquatic  plants  now  known  as 
Rhizocarps,  and  structurally  allied  to  the  Ferns — such  plants 
as  the  floating  Salvinia,  and  the  Pillworts  of  our  swamps,  were 
vastly  abundant,  and  they  may  have  filled  and  choked  up  with 
their  exuberant  growth  many  of  the  lakes  and  slow  streams  of 
the  period,  furnishing  layers  of  cannel  and  "  macrospore " 
coal,  and  earthly  bitumen  or  Torbanite. 

We  have  hitherto  confined  our  attention  to  the  great  Car- 
boniferous period,  so  called,  as  emphatically  the  age  of  coal ; 
but  this  mineral,  and  allied  forms  of  carbon,  were  produced 
both  before  and  after.  Even  in  that  old  Laurentian  age, 
which  includes  the  oldest  rocks  that  we  know,  formed  when 
the  first  land  had  just  risen  out  of  the  waters,  there  are  thick 
beds  of  graphite,  or  plumbago,  chemically  the  same  with 
anthracite  coal,  and  which  must  have  been  produced  by  the 
agency  of  plants,  whether  terrestrial  or  aquatic.  We  may  sup- 
pose that  the  plants  of  this  remote  age  were  of  very  humble 
type  as  much  lower  than  those  of  the  coal  formation  as  these 
are  lower  than  those  of  the  present  day ;  but  if  so,  then,  on  the 
analogy  of  the  Carboniferous,  they  would  be  high  and  complex 
representatives  of  those  low  types.  But  there  is  another  and 
more  startling  possibility  ;  that  the  Laurentian  may  have  been 
a  period  when  vegetable  life  culminated  on  the  earth,  and 
existed  in  its  most  complete  and  grandest  forms  in  advance  of 
the  time  when  it  was  brought  into  subordination  to  the  higher 
life  of  the  animal.  In  the  meantime,  the  Laurentian  rocks  are 
in  a  state  of  so  extreme  metamorphism  that  they  have  afforded 
no  certain  indication  of  the  forms  or  structures  of  the  vegeta- 
tion of  the  period. 

We  find  indications  of  plant  life  through  all  the  Paleozoic 
groups  succeeding  the  Laurentian  ;  but  it  is  not  till  we  reach 
the  Devonian,  the  system  immediately  preceding  the  Carboni- 


2$O  THE   GROWTH   OF   COAL 

ferous,  that  we  find  an  abundance  of  forms  not  essentially 
different  from  those  of  the  Carboniferous,  though  similar  in 
details.  Only  a  few  and  very  small  beds  of  coal  were  accumu- 
lated in  this  age ;  but  there  was  an  immense  abundance  of 
bituminous  shale  enriched  with  the  macrospores  of  Rhizocarps. 
The  Ohio  black  shale,  which  is  said  to  extend  its  outcrop 
across  that  state  with  a  breadth  of  ten  to  twenty  miles,  and  a 
thickness  of  550  feet,  is  filled  with  macrospores  of  Protosalvinia, 
as  is  its  continuation  in  Canada. 

Above  the  great  coal  formation  the  Permian  and  Jurassic 
contain  beds  of  coal,  though  of  limited  extent,  and  formed  in 
the  case  of  the  two  latter  of  very  different  plants  from  those  of 
the  Carboniferous.  In  the  Cretaceous  and  Tertiary  ages, 
after  the  abundant  introduction  of  species  of  forest  trees  still 
living,  coal  making  seems  to  have  obtained  a  new  impulse,  so 
that  in  China  and  the  western  part  of  America  there  are  coals 
of  great  extent  and  value,  all  made  of  plants  ot  genera  still 
existing.  In  the  Cretaceous  coal  of  Vancouver  Island  there 
are  remains  of  such  modern  trees  as  the  Poplars,  Magnolias, 
Palmettos,  Sequoias,  and  a  great  variety  of  other  genera  still 
living  in  America.  Out  of  the  remains  of  these,  under  favour- 
ing conditions,  quite  as  good  coal  as  that  of  the  coal  formation 
has  been  made,  although  the  plants  are  so  different.  There 
is,  indeed,  reason  to  believe  that  those  now  rare  trees,  the 
Sequoias,  represented  at  the  present  time  only  by  the  big  trees 
of  California,  and  their  companion,  the  redwood,  were  then 
spread  universally  over  the  northern  hemisphere,  and  formed 
dense  forests  on  swampy  flats  which  led  to  the  accumulation  of 
coal  beds  in  which  the  trunks  and  leaves  of  the  Sequoias 
formed  main  ingredients,  so  that  Sequoia  and  its  allies  in  this 
later  age  take  the  place  of  the  Sigillarise  of  the  coal  formation. 
Last  of  all,  coal  accumulation  is  still  going  on  in  the  Ever- 
glades of  Florida,  the  dismal  swamp  of  Virginia,  and  the  peat- 
bogs of  the  more  northern  regions.  So  the  vegetable  kingdom 


THE   GROWTH   OF   COAL  251 

has,  throughout  its  long  history,  been  continually  depriving  the 
atmosphere  of  its  carbon  dioxide,  and  accumulating  this  in 
beds  of  coal.  In  the  earlier  ages  indeed,  this  would  seem  to 
us  to  have  been  its  main  use. 

To  the  modern  naturalist,  vegetable  life,  with  regard  to  its 
uses,  is  the  great  accumulator  of  pabulum  for  the  sustenance 
of  the  higher  forms  of  vital  energy  manifested  in  the  animal. 
In  the  Palaeozoic  this  consideration  sinks  in  importance.  In 
the  Coal  period  we  know  few  land  animals,  and  these  not  vege- 
table feeders,  with  the  exception  of  some  insects,  millipedes, 
and  snails.  But  the  Carboniferous  forests  did  not  live  in  vain, 
if  their  only  use  was  to  store  up  the  light  and  heat  of  those 
old  summers  in  the  form  of  coal,  and  to  remove  the  excess  of 
carbonic  acid  from  the  atmosphere.  In  the  Devonian  period 
even  these  utilities  fail,  for  coal  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
accumulated  to  any  great  extent,  though  the  abundant  petro- 
leum of  the  Devonian  is,  no  doubt,  due  to  the  agency  of  aquatic 
vegetation.  In  addition  to  scorpions,  a  few  insects  are  the 
only  known  tenants  of  the  Devonian  land,  and  these  are  of 
kinds  whose  lame  probably  lived  in  water,  and  were  not 
dependent  on  land  plants.  We  may  have  much  yet  to  learn 
of  the  animal  life  of  the  Devonian ;  but  for  the  present,  the 
great  plan  of  vegetable  nature  goes  beyond  our  measures  of 
utility;  and  there  remains  only  what  is  perhaps  the  most 
wonderful  and  suggestive  correlation  of  all,  namely,  that  our 
minds  are  able  to  trace  in  these  perished  organisms  structures 
similar  to  those  of  modern  plants,  and  thus  to  reproduce  in 
imagination  the  forms  and  habits  of  growth  of  living  things 
which  so  long  preceded  us  on  the  earth. 

In  another  way  Huxley  has  put  the  utilitarian  aspect  of  the 
case  so  admirably,  that  I  cannot  refrain  from  quoting  his  clever 
apotheosis  of  nature  in  connection  with  the  production  of  coal. 

"  Nature  is  never  in  a  hurry,  and  seems  to  have  had  always 
before  her  eyes  the  adage,  'Keep  a  thing  long  enough,  and 


252  THE   GROWTH   OF    COAL 

you  will  find  a  use  for  it.'  She  has  kept  her  beds  of  coal  for 
millions  of  years  without  being  able  to  find  a  use  for  them ; 
she  has  sent  them  beneath  the  sea,  and  the  sea  beasts  could 
make  nothing  of  them ;  she  had  raised  them  up  into  dry  land, 
and  laid  the  black  veins  bare,  and  still  for  ages  and  ages  there 
was  no  living  thing  on  the  face  of  the  earth  that  could  see  any 
sort  of  value  in  them ;  and  it  was  only  the  other  day,  so  to 
speak,  that  she  turned  a  new  creature  out  of  her  workshop, 
who,  by  degrees,  acquired  sufficient  wits  to  make  a  fire,  and 
then  to  discover  that  the  black  rock  would  burn. 

"  I  suppose  that  nineteen  hundred  years  ago,  when  Julius 
Caesar  was  good  enough  to  deal  with  Britain  as  we  have  dealt 
with  New  Zealand,  the  primasval  Briton,  blue  with  cold  and 
woad,  may  have  known  that  the  strange  black  stone  which  he 
found  here  and  there  in  his  wanderings  would  burn,  and  so 
help  to  warm  his  body  and  cook  his  food.  Saxon,  Dane,  and 
Norman  swarmed  into  the  land.  The  English  people  grew 
into  a  powerful  nation  ;  and  Nature  still  waited  for  a  return 
for  the  capital  she  had  invested  in  ancient  club  mosses.  The 
eighteenth  century  arrived,  and  with  it  James  Watt.  The 
brain  of  that  man  was  the  spore  out  of  which  was  developed 
the  steam  engine,  and  all  the  prodigious  trees  and  branches 
of  modern  industry  which  have  grown  out  of  this.  But  coal 
is  as  much  an  essential  of  this  growth  and  development  as 
carbonic  acid  is  of  a  club  moss.  Wanting  the  coal,  we  could 
not  have  smelted  the  iron  needed  to  make  our  engines  ;  nor 
have  worked  our  engines  when  we  got  them.  But  take  away 
the  engines,  and  the  great  towns  of  Yorkshire  and  Lancashire 
vanish  like  a  dream.  Manufactures  give  place  to  agriculture 
and  pasture,  and  not  ten  men  could  live  where  now  ten  thou- 
sand are  amply  supported. 

"  Thus  all  this  abundant  wealth  of  money  and  of  vivid  life 
is  Nature's  investment  in  club  mosses  and  the  like  so  long 
ago.  But  what  becomes  of  the  coal  which  is  burnt  in  yielding 


THE   GROWTH   OF   COAL  253 

the  interest  ?  Heat  comes  out  of  it,  light  comes  out  of  it,  and 
if  we  could  gather  together  all  that  goes  up  the  chimney,  and 
all  that  remains  in  the  grate  of  a  thoroughly  burnt  coal  fire, 
we  should  find  ourselves  in  possession  of  a  quantity  of  carbonic 
acid,  water,  ammonia,  and  mineral  matters  exactly  equal  in 
weight  to  the  coal.  But  these  are  the  very  matters  with  which 
Nature  supplied  the  club  mosses  which  made  coal.  She  is 
paid  back  principal  and  interest  at  the  same  time ;  and  she 
straightway  invests  the  carbonic  acid,  the  water,  and  the 
ammonia  in  new  forms  of  life,  feeding  with  them  the  plants 
that  now  live.  Thrifty  Nature,  surely  !  no  prodigal,  but  the 
most  notable  of  housekeepers."  x 

All  this  is  true  and  well  told;  but  who  is  "Nature,"  this 
goddess  who,  since  the  far-distant  Carboniferous  age,  has 
been  planning  for  man?  Is  this  not  another  name  for  that 
Almighty  Maker  who  foresaw  and  arranged  all  things  for  His 
people  "  before  the  foundation  of  the  world." 

REFERENCES  :— On  Structures  in  Coal,  Journal  Geological  Society  of 
London,  xv.,  1853.  Contains  results  of  microscopic  study  of  Nova 
Scotia  coals.  Conditions  of  Accumulation  of  Coal,  Ibid.,  xxii., 
1866.  Contains  South  Joggins  section.  Spore  cases  in  Coal,  Am. 
Journal  of  Science,  3rd  series,  vol.  I,  1871.  Rhizocarps  in  the 
Devonian,  Bulletin  Chicago  Academy,  vol.  I,  1886.  "Acadian 
Geology  and  Supplement,"  3rd  edition,  1891,  Cumberland  Coal  Field. 
"Geological  History  of  Plants,"  chap,  iv.,  London  and  New  York, 
2nd  edition,  1892. 

1   Contemporary  Review,  1871. 


THE   OLDEST  AIR-BREATHERS. 


DEDICATED   TO    THE    MEMORY    OF 

MY    FRIEND    AND    EARLY   PATRON   AND   GUIDE 

SIR    CHARLES    LYELL, 

TO  WHOM  WE  ARE  INDEBTED  FOR  SO  MUCH 
OF  THE  SCIENTIFIC  BASIS  OF  MODERN  GEOLOGY. 


EARLIEST  DISCOVERIES — FOOTPRINTS  OF  BATRACHIANS — 
LABYRINTHODENTS  OF  THE  CARBONIFEROUS— MICRO- 
SAURIA  OF  THE  CARBONIFEROUS — OTHER  TYPES — DIS- 
COVERIES IN  ERECT  TREES  —  INVERTEBRATE  AIR- 
BREATHERS,  LAND  SNAILS,  MILLIPEDES,  INSECTS,  SPIDERS 
AND  SCORPIONS — GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS 


REMAINS  OF  HYLONOMUS  LYELT.I,  DAWSON,  1859. 
COAL  MEASURES,  SOUTH  JOGGINS  ;  NOVA  SCOTIA. 

Photograph  of  Type  specimen  somewhat  enlarged,  Geol.  Magazine,  1891  (p.  279). 
(i)  Cranial  bones  and  mandibles;  (la)  Sternal  and  shoulder  bones;  (2)  Mandible  ; 
(3)  Humerus,  ribs  and  vertebrae;  (4)  Hind  limb  ;  (5)  Pelvis  ;  (6)  Caudal  vertebrae. 


CHAPTER  X. 
THE  OLDEST  AIR-BREATHERS. 

ANIMAL  life  had  its  beginning  in  the  waters,  and  to 
this  day  the  waters  are  the  chief  habitat  of  animals, 
especially  of  the  lower  forms.  If  we  divide  the  animal  kingdom 
into  great  leading  types,  the  lowest  of  these  groups,  the 
Protozoa,  includes  only  aquatic  forms;  the  next,  that  of  the 
coral  animals  and  their  allies,  is  also  aquatic.  So  are  all  the 
species  of  the  Sea  Urchins  and  Star  Fishes.  Of  the  remaining 
groups,  the  Mollusks,  the  Crustaceans,  and  the  Worms  are 
dominantly  aquatic,  only  a  small  proportion  being  air-breathers. 
It  is  only  in  the  two  remaining  groups,  including  the  Insects 
and  Spiders  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Vertebrate  animals  on 
the  other,  that  we  have  terrestrial  species  in  large  proportion. 

The  same  fact  appears  in  geological  time.  The  periods 
represented  by  the  older  Palaeozoic  rocks  have  been  termed 
ages  of  invertebrates,  and  they  might  also  be  termed  ages 
of  aquatic  animals.  It  is  only  gradually,  and  as  it  were  with 
difficulty,  that  animals  living  in  the  less  congenial  element  of 
air  are  introduced — at  first  a  few  scorpions  and  insects,  later, 
land  snails  and  amphibian  reptiles,  later  still,  the  higher  rep- 
tiles and  the  birds,  and  last  of  all  the  higher  mammalia. 

We  need  not  wonder  at  this,  for  the  conditions  of  life  with 
reference  to  support,  locomotion,  and  vicissitudes  of  temper- 
ature are  more  complex  and  difficult  in  air,  and  require  more 
complicated  and  perfect  machinery  for  their  maintenance. 
Thus  it  was  that  probably  half  of  the  whole  history  of  our 


258  THE  OLDEST  AIR-BREATHERS 

earth  had  passed  away  before  the  land  became  the  abode 
of  any  large  number  and  variety  of  animals ;  while  it  was  only 
about  the  same  time  that  the  development  of  the  vegetable 
kingdom  became  so  complete  as  to  afford  food  and  shelter 
for  air-breathers. 

It  is  also  worthy  of  note  that  it  is  only  in  comparatively 
recent  times  that  we  have  been  able  to  discover  the  oldest 
air-breathing  animals,  and  geologists  long  believed  that  the 
time  when  animals  had  existed  on  the  land  was  even  shorter 
than  it  had  actually  been.  This  arose  in  part  from  the  in- 
frequency  and  rarity  of  preservation  of  the  remains  of  the 
earliest  creatures  of  this  kind,  and  perhaps  partly  from  the 
fact  that  collectors  were  not  looking  for  them. 

That  there  was  dry  land,  even  in  the  Cambro-Silurian 
period,  we  know,  and  can  even  trace  its  former  shores.  In 
Canada  our  old  Laurentian  coast  extends  for  more  than  a 
thousand  miles,  from  Labrador  to  Lake  Superior,  marking  the 
southern  border  of  the  nucleus  of  the  American  continent  in 
the  Cambrian  and  Cambro-Silurian  periods.  Along  a  great 
part  of  this  ancient  coast  we  have  the  sand  flats  of  the  Potsdam 
Sandstone,  affording  very  favourable  conditions  for  the  im- 
bedding of  land  animals,  did  these  exist ;  still,  notwithstanding 
the  zealous  explorations  of  the  Geological  Survey,  and  of  many 
amateurs,  no  trace  of  an  air-breather  has  been  found.  I  have 
myself  followed  the  oldest  Palaeozoic  beds  up  to  their  ancient 
limits  in  some  localities,  and  collected  the  shells  which  the 
waves  had  dashed  on  the  beach,  and  have  seen  under  the 
Cambro-Silurian  beds  the  old  pre-Cambrian  rocks  pitted  and 
indented  with  weather  marks,  showing  that  this  shore  was  then 
gradually  subsiding;  yet  the  record  of  the  rocks  was  totally 
silent  as  to  the  animals  that  may  have  trod  the  shore,  or  the 
trees  that  may  have  waved  over  it.  All  that  can  be  said  is 
that  the  sun  shone,  the  rain  fell,  and  the  wind  blew  as  it  does 
now,  and  that  the  sea  abounded  in  living  creatures.  The  eyes 


THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS  259 

of  Trilobites,  the  weathered  Laurentian  rocks,  the  wind  ripples 
in  the  Potsdam  sandstone,  the  rich  fossils  of  the  limestones, 
testify  to  these  things.  The  existence  of  such  conditions 
would  lead  us  to  hope  that  land  animals  may  yet  be  found  in 
these  older  formations.  On  the  other  hand,  the  gradual  failure 
of  one  form  of  life  after  another,  as  we  descend  in  the  geo- 
logical series,  and  the  rarity  of  fishes  and  land  plants  in  the 
Silurian  rocks  and  their  absence  from  the  Cambrian,  might 
induce  us  to  believe  that  we  have  here  reached  the  beginning 
of  animal  life,  and  have  left  far  behind  us  those  forms  that 
inhabit  the  land. 

Even  in  the  Carboniferous  period,  though  land  plants 
abound,  air-breathers  are  not  numerous,  and  most  of  them 
have  only  been  recently  recognised.  We  know,  however, 
with  certainty  that  the  dark  and  luxuriant  forests  of  the  coal 
period  were  not  destitute  of  animal  life.  Reptiles 1  crept 
under  their  shade,  land  snails  and  millipedes  fed  on  the 
rank  leaves  and  decaying  vegetable  matter,  and  insects  flitted 
through  the  air  of  the  sunnier  spots.  Great  interest  attaches 
to  these  creatures;  perhaps  the  first-born  species  in  some  of 
their  respective  types,  and  certainly  belonging  to  one  of  the 
oldest  land  faunas,  and  presenting  prototypes  of  future  forms 
equally  interesting  to  the  geologist  and  the  zoologist. 

It  has  happened  to  the  writer  of  these  pages  to  have  had 
some  share  in  the  finding  of  several  of  these  ancient  animals. 
The  coal  formation  of  Nova  Scotia,  so  full  in  its  development, 
so  rich  in  fossil  remains,  and  so  well  exposed  in  coast  cliffs, 
has  afforded  admirable  opportunities  for  such  discoveries, 
which  have  been  so  far  improved  that  at  least  twenty-five  out 
of  the  not  very  large  number  of  known  Carboniferous  land 
animals  have  been  obtained  from  it.  2  The  descriptions  of 

1  I  shall  use  the  term  reptile  here  in  its  broad,  popular  sense,  as  including 
Batrachians  as  well  as  reptiles  proper. 

2  It  appears    that   about  a    hundred  species  of  Carboniferous  reptiles 


26O  THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS 

these  creatures,  found  at  various  times  and  at  various  places, 
are  scattered  through  papers  ranging  in  date  from  1844  to 
1 89 1,1  and  are  too  fragmentary  to  give  complete  information 
respecting  the  structures  of  the  animals,  and  their  conditions 
of  existence. 

FOOTPRINTS. 

It  has  often  happened  to  geologists,  as  to  other  explorers  of 
new  regions,  that  footprints  on  the  sand  have  guided  them  to 
the  inhabitants  of  unknown  lands,  and  such  footprints,  pro- 
verbially perishable,  may  be  so  preserved  by  being  filled  up 
with  matter  deposited  in  them  as  to  endure  for  ever.  This  we 
may  see  to-day  in  the  tracks  of  sandpipers  and  marks  of  rain- 
drops preserved  in  the  layers  of  alluvial  mud  deposited  by  the 
tides  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  and  which,  if  baked  or  hardened 
by  pressure,  might  become  imperishable,  like  the  inscriptions 
of  the  old  Chaldeans  on  their  tablets  of  baked  clay.  The 
first  trace  ever  observed  of  reptiles  in  the  Carboniferous 
system  consisted  of  a  series  of  small  but  well-marked  foot- 
prints found  by  Sir  W.  E.  Logan,  in  1841,  in  the  lower  coal 
measures  of  Horton  Bluff,  in  Nova  Scotia ;  and  as  the  authors 
of  most  of  our  general  works  on  geology  have  hitherto,  in  so 
far  as  I  am  aware,  failed  to  do  justice  to  this  discovery,  I  shall 
notice  it  here  in  detail.  In  the  year  above  mentioned,  Sir 
William,  then  Mr.  Logan,  examined  the  coal  fields  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  Nova  Scotia,  with  the  view  of  studying  their 
structure,  and  extending  the  application  of  the  discoveries  as 
to  beds  with  roots,  or  Stigmaria  underclays,  which  he  had  made 

have  been  recognised  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  in  Great  Britain,  and  in 
the  United  States.  They  belong  to  a  number  of  distinct  types,  all,  however, 
being  of  batrachian  affinities. 

1  Papers  by  Lyell,  Owen,  and  the  author,  in  the  Journal  of  the  Geolo- 
gical Society  of  London,  i.  ii.  ix.  x.  xi.  xvi.  xvii.  xviii. ;  "Acadian  Geology," 
by  the  author ;  Papers  in  Trans.  Royal  Society  of  London,  Am.  Jl.  of 
Science,  and  Geological  Magazine. 


Footprints  of  Hylopus  Logam',  Dawson,  Lower  Carboniferous, 

Nova  Scotia. 
Natural  size  and  reduced. 

These  footprints  were  the  first  indications  of  Carboniferous  land  verte- 
brates ever  observed;  they  were  probably  made  by  a  Microsaurian  and  one 
of  the  earliest  species  of  this  type.  They  show  a  remarkable  length  of 
stride  and  development  of  limb. 


THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS  26l 

in  the  Welsh  coal  fields.  On  his  return  to  England  he  read 
a  paper  on  these  subjects  before  the  Geological  Society  of 
London,  in  which  he  noticed  the  subject  of  reptilian  footprints 
at  Horton  Bluff.  The  specimen  was  exhibited  at  the  meeting 
of  the  Society,  and  was,  I  believe,  admitted,  on  the  high 
authority  of  Prof.  Owen,  to  be  probably  reptilian.  Unfortu- 
nately Sir  William's  paper  appeared  only  in  abstract  in  the 
Transactions;  and  in  this  abstract,  though  the  footprints  are 
mentioned,  no  opinion  is  expressed  as  to  their  nature.  Sir 
William's  own  opinion  is  thus  stated  in  a  letter  to  me,  dated 
June,  1843,  when  he  was  on  his  way  to  Canada,  to  commence 
the  survey  which  has  since  developed  so  astonishing  a  mass 
of  geological  facts. 

"  Among  the  specimens  which  I  carried  from  Horton  Bluff, 
one  is  of  very  high  interest.  It  exhibits  the  footprints  of  some 
reptilian  animal.  Owen  has  no  doubt  of  the  marks  being 
genuine  footprints.  The  rocks  of  Horton  Bluff  are  below  the 
gypsum  of  that  neighbourhood ;  so  that  the  specimen  in  ques- 
tion (if  Lyell's  views  are  correct1)  comes  from  the  very  bottom 
of  the  coal  series,  or  at  any  rate  very  low  down  in  it,  and 
demonstrates  the  existence  of  reptiles  at  an  earlier  epoch  than 
has  hitherto  been  determined ;  none  having  been  previously 
found  below  the  magnesian  limestone,  or,  to  give  it  Murchison's 
new  name,  the  '  Permian  era.' " 

This  extract  is  of  interest,  not  merely  as  an  item  of  evidence 
in  relation  to  the  matter  now  in  hand,  but  as  a  mark  in  the 
progress  of  geological  investigation.  For  the  reasons  above 
stated,  the  important  discovery  thus  made  in  1841,  and  pub- 
lished in  1842,  was  overlooked;  and  the  discovery  of  reptilian 
bones  by  Von  Dechen,  at  Saarbruck,  in  1844,  and  that  of 
footprints  by  Dr.  King  in  the  same  year,  in  Pennsylvania, 

1  Sir  Charles  Lyell  had  then  just  read  a  paper  announcing  his  discovery 
that  the  gypsiferous  system  of  Nova  Scotia  is  Lower  Carboniferous,  in 
which  he  mentions  the  footprints  referred  to,  as  being  reptilian. 
13* 


262  THE  OLDEST  AIR-BREATHERS 

have  been  uniformly  referred  to  as  the  first  observations  of 
this  kind.  Insects  and  Arachnidans,  it  may  be  observed,  had 
previously  been  discovered  in  the  coal  formation  in  Europe. 

The  original  specimen  of  these  footprints  is  still  in  the 
collection  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Canada,  and  a  cast 
which  Logan  kindly  presented  to  me  is  exhibited  in  the  Peter 
Redpath  Museum  of  McGill  University.  It  is  a  slab  of  dark- 
coloured  sandstone,  glazed  with  fine  clay  on  the  surface ;  and 
having  a  series  of  seven  footprints  in  two  rows,  distant  about 
three  inches ;  the  distance  of  the  impressions  in  each  row  being 
three  or  four  inches,  and  the  individual  impressions  about  one 
inch  in  length.  They  seem  to  have  been  made  by  the  points 
of  the  toes,  which  must  have  been  armed  with  strong  and 
apparently  blunt  claws,  and  appear  as  if  either  the  surface  had 
been  somewhat  firm,  or  the  body  of  the  animal  had  been 
partly  water-borne.  In  one  place  only  is  there  a  distinct  mark 
of  the  whole  foot,  as  if  the  animal  had  exerted  an  unusual 
pressure  in  turning  or  stopping  suddenly.  One  pair  of  feet — 
the  fore  feet,  I  presume — appear  to  have  had  four  toes  touching 
the  ground ;  the  other  pair  show  only  three  or  four,  and  it  is 
to  be  observed  that  the  outer  toe,  as  in  the  larger  footprints 
discovered  by  Dr.  King,  projects  in  the  manner  of  a  thumb, 
as  in  the  cheirotherian  tracks  of  the  Trias.  At  a  later  date 
another  series  of  footprints,  possibly  of  the  same  animal,  was 
obtained  at  the  same  place  by  Prof.  Elder,  and  is  now  in  the 
Peter  Redpath  Museum.  Each  foot  in  this  shows  five  toes, 
and  it  is  remarkable  that  the  animal  was  digitigrade  and  took 
a  long  step  for  its  size,  indicating  a  somewhat  high  grade 
of  quadrupedal  organization.  No  mark  of  the  tail  or  belly 
appears.  The  impressions  are  such  as  may  have  been  made 
by  animals  similar  to  some  of  those  to  be  described  in  the 
sequel. 

Shortly  afterward,  Dr.  Harding,  of  Windsor,  when  examining 
a  cargo  of  sandstone  which  had  been  landed  at  that  place  from 


THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS  263 

Parrsboro',  found  on  one  of  the  slabs  a  very  distinct  series  of 
footprints,  each  with  four  toes,  and  a  trace  of  the  fifth.  Dr. 
Harding's  specimen  is  now  in  the  museum  of  King's  College, 
Windsor.  Its  impressions  are  more  distinct,  but  not  very 
different  otherwise  from  those  above  described,  as  found  at 
Horton  Bluff.  The  rocks  at  that  place  are  probably  of  nearly 
the  same  age  with  those  of  Parrsboro'.  I  afterward  examined 
the  place  from  which  this  slab  had  been  quarried,  and  satisfied 
myself  that  the  beds  are  Carboniferous,  and  probably  Lower 
Carboniferous.  They  were  ripple-marked  and  sun-cracked, 
and  I  thought  I  could  detect  some  footprints,  though  more 
obscure  than  those  in  Dr.  Harding's  slab.  Similar  footprints 
are  also  stated  to  have  been  found  by  Dr.  Gesner,  at  Parrs- 
boro'. All  of  these  were  from  the  lowest  beds  of  the  Carboni- 
ferous system. 

I  have  since  observed  several  instances  of  such  impressions 
at  the  Joggins,  at  Horton,  and  near  Windsor,  showing  that 
they  are  by  no  means  rare,  and  that  reptilian  animals  existed 
in  no  inconsiderable  numbers  throughout  the  coal  field  of 
Nova  Scotia,  and  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  Carbo- 
niferous period.  Most  of  these,  when  well  preserved,  shew  five 
toes  both  on  the  anterior  and  posterior  limb.  On  comparing 
these  earlier  Carboniferous  footprints  with  one  another,  it  will 
be  observed  that  they  are  of  similar  general  character,  and 
may  have  been  made  by  one  kind  of  animal,  which  must  have 
had  the  fore  and  hind  feet  nearly  of  equal  size,  and  a  digiti- 
grade  mode  of  walking.  Footprints  of  similar  form  are  found 
in  the  coal  formation,  as  well  as  others  of  much  larger  size. 
The  latter  are  of  two  kinds.  One  of  these  shows  short  hind 
feet  of  digitigrade  character  and  a  long  stride,  in  this  resem- 
bling the  smaller  footprints  of  the  Lower  Carboniferous,  which 
are  remarkable  for  the  length  of  limb  which  they  indicate  by 
the  distance  between  the  footprints.  The  other  kind  shows 
long  hind  feet,  as  if  the  whole  heel  were  brought  down  to  the 


264  THE  OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS 

ground  in  a  plantigrade  manner.  These  have  also  the  outer 
toe  separated  from  the  others,  and  sometimes  provided  with 
a  long  claw.  The  fore  foot  is  sometimes  smaller  than  the 
hind  foot,  and  differently  formed.1  In  these  respects  they 
resemble  the  great  Labyrinthodont  Batrachians  of  the  sub- 
sequent Trias.  Their  stride  also  is  comparatively  short,  and 
the  rows  of  impressions  wide  apart,  as  if  the  body  of  the 
animal  had  been  broad,  and  its  limbs  short. 

We  have  thus  two  types  of  quadrupedal  footprints,  to  the 
first  of  which  I  have  given  the  name  Hylopus,  and  have 
restricted  the  term  Sauropus,2  to  the  second.  The  first 
apparently  belongs  to  the  usually  small  reptiles  of  the  group 
Microsauria,  which  had  a  well-marked  lizard-like  form,  with 
well-developed  limbs,  and  perhaps  also  to  some  of  the  smaller 
Labyrinthodonts,  the  second  to  the  group  of  Labyrinthodontia, 
which  were  often  of  large  size  and  with  stout  and  short  limbs 
and  plantigrade  hind  feet.  There  are  also  some  small  and 
uncertain  tracks,  which  may  have  been  made  by  newt-like 
animals  with  short  feet,  and  a  singular  trail  of  large  size,  and 
with  a  row  of  impressions  at  each  side  (Diplichnites),*  which, 
if  made  by  a  vertebrate  animal,  would  seem  to  indicate  that 
serpentiform  shape  which  we  know  belonged  to  some  Carbo- 
niferous Batrachians. 

The  bones  of  these  animals,  however,  hitherto  found  in 
Nova  Scotia,  may  all  have  belonged  to  the  two  groups  first 
named,  the  Labyrinthodontia  and  Microsauria,  and  I  shall 
proceed  to  give  some  examples  of  each  of  these. 

In  leaving  the  footprints,  I  may  merely  mention  that  the 
animals  which  produced  them  may,  in  certain  circumstances, 
have  left  distinct  impressions  only  of  three  or  four  toes, 

1  Fine  slabs  of  these  footprints  have  been  presented  by  Mr.  Sandford 
Fleming  to  the  Geological  Survey  of  Canada. 

2  Given  by  King. 

3  Impressions  and  Footprints  of  Animals,  Am.  Jottr.  Sci.,  1873. 


THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS  265 

when  they  actually  possessed  five,  while  in  other  circumstances 
all  may  have  left  marks ;  and  that,  when  wading  in  deep  mud, 
their  footprints  were  altogether  different  from  those  made  on 
hard  sand  or  clay.  In  some  instances  the  impressions  may 
have  been  made  by  animals  wading  or  swimming  in  water, 
while  in  others  the  rain  marks  and  sun  cracks  afford  evidence 
that  the  surface  was  a  subaerial  one.  They  are  chiefly  inter- 
esting as  indicating  the  wide  diffusion  and  abundance  of  the 
creatures  producing  them,  and  that  they  haunted  tidal  flats 
and  muddy  shores,  perhaps  emerging  from  the  water  that  they 
might  bask  in  the  sun,  or  possibly  searching  for  food  among 
the  rejectamenta  of  the  sea,  or  of  lagunes  and  estuaries. 

THE  LABYRINTHODONTS  OF  THE  COAL  PERIOD,  BAPHETES 
PLANICEPS  AND  DENDRERPETON  ACADIANUM. 

In  the  summer  of  1851  I  had  occasion  to  spend  a  day 
at  the  Albion  Mines  in  the  eastern  part  of  Nova  Scotia,  and 
on  arriving  at  the  railway  station  in  the  afternoon,  found  my- 
self somewhat  too  early  for  the  train.  By  way  of  improving 
the  time  thus  left  on  my  hands,  I  betook  myself  to  the  ex- 
amination of  a  large  pile  of  rubbish,  consisting  of  shale  and 
ironstone  from  one  of  the  pits,  and  in  which  I  had  previously 
found  scales  and  teeth  of  fishes.  In  the  blocks  of  hard  car- 
bonaceous shale  and  earthy  coal,  of  which  the  pile  chiefly 
consisted,  scales,  teeth  and  coprolites  often  appeared  on  the 
weathered  ends  and  surfaces  as  whitish  spots.  In  looking 
for  these,  I  observed  one  of  much  greater  size  than  usual  on 
the  edge  of  a  block,  and  on  splitting  it  open,  found  a  large 
flattened  skull,  about  six  inches  broad,  the  cranial  bones  of 
which  remained  entire  on  one  side  of  the  mass,  while  the  palate 
and  teeth,  in  several  fragments,  came  away  with  the  other  half. 
Carefully  trimming  the  larger  specimen,  and  gathering  all  the 
smaller  fragments,  I  packed  them  up  as  safely  as  possible,  and 


266  THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS 

returned  from  my  little  excursion  much  richer  than  I  had 
hoped. 

The  specimen,  on  further  examination,  proved  somewhat 
puzzling.  I  supposed  it  to  be,  most  probably,  the  head  of  a 
large  ganoid  fish ;  but  it  seemed  different  from  anything  of 
this  kind  with  which  I  could  compare  it ;  and  at  a  distance 
from  comparative  anatomists,  and  without  sufficient  means  of 
determination,  I  dared  not  refer  it  to  anything  higher  in  the 
animal  scale.  Hoping  for  further  light,  I  packed  it  up  with 
some  other  specimens,  and  sent  it  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Geological  Society  of  London,  with  an  explanatory  note  as  to 
its  geological  position,  and  requesting  that  it  might  be  sub- 
mitted to  some  one  versed  in  such  fossils.  For  a  year  or 
two,  however,  it  remained  as  quietly  in  the  Society's  collection 
as  if  in  its  original  bed  in  the  coal  mine,  until  attention 
having  been  attracted  to  such  remains  by  the  discoveries 
made  by  Sir  Charles  Lyell  and  myself  in  1852,  at  the  South 
Joggins,  and  published  in  I853,1  the  Secretary  or  President  of 
the  Society  re-discovered  the  specimen,  and  handed  it  to  Sir 
Richard  Owen,  by  whom  it  was  described  in  December,  1 853,2 
under  the  name  of  Baphetes  planiceps,  which  may  be  inter- 
preted the  "flat-headed  diving  animal,"  in  allusion  to  the 
flatness  of  the  creature's  skull,  and  the  possibility  that  it  may 
have  been  in  the  habit  of  diving. 

The  parts  preserved  in  my  specimen  are  the  bones  of  the 
anterior  and  upper  part  of  the  skull  in  one  fragment,  and 
the  teeth  and  palatal  bones  in  others.  These  parts  were 
carefully  examined  and  described  by  Owen,  and  the  details 
will  be  found  in  his  papers  referred  to  in  the  note.  We 
may  merely  observe  here  that  the  form  and  arrangement  of 
the  bones  showed  batrachian  affinities,  that  the  surface  of  the 
cranium  was  sculptured  in  the  manner  of  the  group  of 

1  Journal  of  Geological  Society  of  London,  vol.  ix. 

8  Journal  of 'Geological Society,  vol.  x.  ;  and  additional  notes,  vol.  xi. 


THE   OLDEST  AIR-BREATHERS  267 

Labyrinthodonts,  and  that  the  teeth  possessed  the  peculiar 
and  complicated  plication  of  the  ivory  and  enamel  seen  in 
creatures  of  this  type.  The  whole  of  these  characters  are 
regarded  as  allying  the  animal  with  the  great  crocodilian  frogs 
of  the  Trias  of  Europe,  first  known  as  Cheirotherians,  owing 
to  the  remarkable  hand-like  impressions  of  their  feet,  and 
afterwards  as  Lalyrinthodonts,  from  the  beautifully  complicated 
convolutions  of  the  ivory  of  their  teeth. 

Unfortunately  the  original  specimen  exhibited  only  the 
head,  and  after  much  and  frequent  subsequent  searching,  the 
only  other  bones  found  are  a  scapula,  or  shoulder  bone,  and 
one  of  the  surface  scales  which  served  for  protection,  and 
which  indicate  at  least  that  the  creature  possessed  walking 
limbs  and  was  armed  with  bony  scales  sculptured  in  the 
same  manner  with  the  skull  bones. 

Of  the  general  form  and  dimensions  of  Bnphetes,  the  facts 
at  present  known  do  not  enable  us  to  say  much.  Its 
formidable  teeth  and  strong  maxillary  bones  show  that  it  must 
have  devoured  animals  of  considerable  size,  probably  the 
fishes  whose  remains  are  found  with  it,  or  the  smaller  reptiles 
of  the  coal.  It  must,  in  short,  have  been  crocodilian,  rather 
than  frog-like,  in  its  mode  of  life ;  but  whether,  like  the 
Labyrinthodonts,  it  had  strong  limbs  and  a  short  body,  or 
like  the  crocodiles,  an  elongated  form  and  a  powerful 
natatory  tail,  the  remains  do  not  decide.  One  of  the  limbs 
or  a  vertebra  of  the  tail  would  settle  this  question,  but  neither 
has  as  yet  been  found.  That  there  were  large  animals  of 
the  labyrinthodontal  form  in  the  coal  period  is  proved  by 
the  footprints  discovered  by  Dr.  King  in  Pennsylvania,  which 
may  have  been  produced  by  an  animal  of  the  type  of  Baphetes, 
as  well  as  by  those  of  Sauropus  unguifer  from  the  Carboni- 
ferous of  Nova  Scotia,  and  which  would  very  well  suit  an 
animal  of  this  size  and  probable  form.  On  the  other  hand, 
that  there  were  large  swimming  reptiles  seems  established 


268  THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS 

by  the  discovery  of  the  vertebras  of  Eosaurus  Acadianus,  at 
the  Joggins,  by  Marsh.1  The  locomotion  of  Baphetes  must 
have  been  vigorous  and  rapid,  but  it  may  have  been  effected 
both  on  land  and  in  water,  and  either  by  feet  or  tail,  or  both. 
A  jawbone  found  at  the  Joggins  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  to 
which  I  have  attached  the  name  Baphetes  minor,  may  have 
belonged  to  a  second  species.  Great  Batrachians  allied  to 
Baphetes,  but  different  specifically  or  generically,  have  since 
been  found  in  the  coal  formations  of  Great  Britain,  the  conti- 
nent of  Europe  and  the  United  States. 

With  the  nature  of  the  habitat  of  this  formidable  creature 
we  are  better  acquainted.  The  area  of  the  Albion  Mines  coal 
field  was  somewhat  exceptional  in  its  character.  It  seems  to 
have  been  a  bay  or  indentation  in  the  Silurian  land,  separated 
from  the  remainder  of  the  coal  field  by  a  high  shingle  beach, 
now  a  bed  of  conglomerate.  Owing  to  this  circumstance, 
while  in  the  other  portions  of  the  Nova  Scotia  coal  field  the 
beds  of  coal  are  thin,  and  alternate  with  sandstones  and  shales, 
at  the  Albion  Mines  a  vast  thickness  of  almost  unmixed  vege- 
table matter  has  been  deposited,  constituting  the  "  main  seam  ' 
of  thirty-eight  feet  thick,  and  the  "  deep  seam,"  twenty-four  feet 
thick,  as  well  as  still  thicker  beds  of  highly  carbonaceous 
shale.  But,  though  the  area  of  the  Albion  coal  measures  was 
thus  separated,  and  preserved  from  marine  incursions,  it  must 
have  been  often  submerged,  and  probably  had  connection 
with  the  sea,  through  rivers  or  channels  cutting  the  enclosing 
beach.  Hence  beds  of  earthy  matter  occur  in  it,  containing 
remains  of  large  fishes.  One  of  the  most  important  of  these 
is  that  known  as  the  "  Holing  stone,"  a  band  of  black  highly 
carbonaceous  shale,  coaly  matter,  and  clay  ironstone,  occur- 
ring in  the  main  seam,  about  five  feet  below  its  roof,  and  vary- 
ing in  thickness  from  two  inches  to  nearly  two  feet.  It  was 
from  this  band  that  the  rubbish  heap  in  which  I  found  the 
1  Silliman's  Journal,  1859. 


THE  OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS  269 

skull  of  Baphdes  planiceps  was  derived.  It  is  a  laminated  bed, 
sometimes  hard  and  containing  much  ironstone,  in  other 
places  soft  and  shaly,  but  always  black  and  carbonaceous, 
and  often  with  layers  of  coarse  coal,  though  with  few  fossil 
plants  retaining  their  forms.  It  contains  large  round  flat 
scales  and  flattened  curved  teeth,  which  I  attribute  to  a  fish  of 
the  genus  Rhizodus,  resembling,  if  not  identical  with,  R. 
landfer,  Newberry.  With  these  are  double-pointed  shark-like 
teeth,  and  long  cylindrical  spines  of  a  species  of  Diplodust 
which  I  have  named  D.  acinacesl  There  are  also  shells  of 
the  minute  Spirorbis,  so  common  in  the  coal  measures  of 
other  parts  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  abundance  of  fragments  of 
coprolitic  matter,  or  fossil  excrement,  sometimes  containing 
bones  and  scales  of  fishes. 

It  is  evident  that  the  "  Holing  stone "  indicates  one  of 
those  periods  in  which  the  Albion  coal  area,  or  a  large  part  of 
it,  was  under  water,  probably  fresh  or  brackish,  as  there  are  no 
properly  marine  shells  in  this,  or  any  of  the  other  beds  of  this 
coal  series.  We  may  then  imagine  a  large  lake  or  lagune, 
loaded  with  trunks  of  trees  and  decaying  vegetable  matter, 
having  in  its  shallow  parts,  and  along  its  sides,  dense  brakes  of 
Calamites,  and  forests  of  Sigillaria,  Lepidodendron,  and  other 
trees  of  the  period,  extending  far  on  every  side  as  damp  pesti- 
lential swamps.  In  such  a  habitat,  uninviting  to  us,  but  no 
doubt  suited  to  Baphetes,  that  creature  crawled  through 
swamps  and  thickets,  wallowed  in  flats  of  black  mud,  or  swam 
and  dived  in  search  of  its  finny  prey.  It  was,  in  so  far  as  we 
know,  the  monarch  of  these  swamps,  though  there  is,  as 
already  stated,  evidence  of  the  existence  of  similar  creatures  of 
this  type  quite  as  large  in  other  parts  of  the  Nova  Scotia  coal 
field.  We  must  now  notice  a  smaller  animal  belonging  to  the 
same  family  of  Labyrinthodonts. 

1  "  Supplement  to  Acadian  Geology,"  pp.  43  and  50.  These  fishes  are 
now  known  under  the  generic  name  Leptacanthus. 


270  THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS 

The  geology  of  Nova  Scotia  is  largely  indebted  to  the  world- 
embracing  labours  of  Sir  Charles  Lyell.  Though  much  had 
previously  been  done  by  others,  his  personal  explorations  in 
1842,  and  his  paper  on  the  gypsiferous  formation,  published  in 
the  following  year,  first  gave  form  and  shape  to  some  of  the 
more  difficult  features  of  the  geology  of  the  country,  and 
brought  it  into  relation  with  that  of  other  parts  of  the  world. 
In  geological  investigation,  as  in  many  other  things,  patient 
plodding  may  accumulate  large  stores  of  fact,  but  the  magic 
wand  of  genius  is  required  to  bring  out  the  true  value  and 
significance  of  these  stores  of  knowledge.  It  is  scarcely  too 
much  to  say  that  the  exploration  of  a  few  weeks,  and  subse- 
quent study  of  the  subject  by  Sir  Charles,  with  the  impulse 
and  guidance  given  to  the  labours  of  others,  did  as  much  for 
Nova  Scotia  as  might  have  been  effected  by  years  of  laborious 
work  under  less  competent  heads. 

Sir  Charles  naturally  continued  to  take  an  interest  in  the 
geology  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  to  entertain  a  desire  to  explore 
more  fully  some  of  those  magnificent  coast  sections  which  he 
had  but  hastily  examined;  and  when,  in  1851,  he  had  occa- 
sion to  revisit  the  United  States,  he  made  an  appointment 
with  the  writer  of  these  pages  to  spend  a  few  days  in  renewed 
explorations  of  the  cliffs  of  the  South  Joggins.  The  object 
specially  in  view  was  the  thorough  examination  of  the  beds  of 
the  true  coal  measures,  with  reference  to  their  contained 
fossils,  and  the  conditions  of  accumulation  of  the  coal ;  and 
the  results  were  given  to  the  world  in  a  joint  paper  on  "  The 
remains  of  a  reptile  and  a  land  shell  discovered  in  the  interior 
of  an  erect  tree  in  the  coal  measures  of  Nova  Scotia,"  and  in 
the  writer's  paper  on  the  "  Coal  Measures  of  the  South 
Joggins  "  ; *  while  other  important  investigations  grew  out  ot 
the  following  up  of  these  researches,  and  much  matter  in 

1  Journal  of  the  Geological  Society  of  London,  vols.   ix.    and  x.  ;    and 

"Acadian  Geology." 


THE  OLDEST  AIR-BREATHERS  2/1 

relation  to  the  vegetable  fossils  still  remains  to  be  worked  up. 
It  is  with  the  more  striking  fact  of  the  discovery  of  the  remains 
of  a  reptile  in  the  coal  measures  that  we  have  now  to  do. 

The  South  Joggins  Section  is,  among  other  things,  remark- 
able for  the  number  of  beds  which  contain  remains  of  erect 
trees  imbedded  in  situ  :  these  trees  are  for  the  most  part 
Sigillariae,  those  great-ribbed  pillar-like  trees  which  seem  to 
have  been  so  characteristic  of  the  forests  of  the  coal  formation 
flats  and  swamps,  and  so  important  contributors  to  the  forma- 
tion of  coal.  They  vary  in  diameter  from  six  inches  to  five  feet. 
They  have  grown  on  underclays  and  wet  soils,  similar  to  those 
on  which  the  coal  was  accumulated ;  and  these  having  been 
submerged  or  buried  by  mud  carried  down  by  inundations, 
the  trees,  killed  by  the  accumulations  around  their  stems, 
have  decayed,  and  their  tops  being  broken  off  at  the  level  of 
the  mud  or  sand,  the  cylindrical  cavities  left  open  by  the  dis- 
appearance of  the  wood,  and  preserved  in  their  form  by  the 
greater  durability  of  the  bark,  have  been  filled  with  sand  and 
clay.  This,  now  hardened  into  stone,  constitutes  pillar-like 
casts  of  the  trees,  which  may  often  be  seen  exposed  in  the 
cliffs,  and  which,  as  these  waste  away,  fall  upon  the  beach. 
The  sandstones  enveloping  these  pillared  trunks  of  the  ancient 
Sigillariae  of  the  coal,  are  laminated  or  bedded,  and  the 
laminae,  when  exposed,  split  apart  with  the  weather,  so  that  the 
trees  themselves  become  broken  across ;  this  being  often 
aided  by  the  arrangement  of  the  matter  within  the  trunks,  in 
layers  more  or  less  corresponding  to  those  without.  Thus  one 
of  these  fossil  trees  usually  falls  to  the  beach  in  a  series  of 
discs,  somewhat  resembling  the  grindstones  which  are  exten- 
sively manufactured  on  the  coast.  The  surfaces  of  these 
fragments  often  exhibit  remains  of  plants  which  have  been 
washed  into  the  hollow  trunks,  and  have  been  imbedded 
there ;  and  in  our  explorations  of  the  shore,  we  always  care- 
fully scrutinized  such  specimens,  both  with  the  view  of  observ- 


2/2  THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS 

ing  whether  they  retained  the  superficial  markings  of  Sigillariae, 
and  with  reference  to  the  fossils  contained  in  them.  It  was 
while  examining  a  pile  of  these  "  fossil  grindstones  "  that  we 
were  surprised  by  finding  on  one  of  them  what  seemed  to  be 
fragments  of  bone.  On  careful  search  other  bones  appeared, 
and  they  had  the  aspect,  not  of  remains  of  fishes,  of  which 
many  species  are  found  fossil  in  these  coal  measures,  but 
rather  of  limb  bones  of  a  quadruped.  The  fallen  pieces  of  the 
tree  were  carefully  broken  up,  and  other  bones  disengaged,  and 
at  length  a  jaw  with  teeth  made  its  appearance.  We  felt  quite 
confident,  from  the  first,  that  these  bones  were  reptilian ;  and 
the  whole,  being  carefully  packed  and  labelled,  were  taken  by 
Sir  Charles  to  the  United  States,  and  submitted  to  Prof.  J. 
Wyman  of  Cambridge ;  who  recognised  their  reptilian  char- 
acter, and  prepared  descriptive  notes  of  the  principal  bones, 
which  appeared  to  have  belonged  to  two  species.  He  also 
observed  among  the  fragments  an  object  of  different  character, 
apparently  a  shell ;  which  was  recognised  by  Dr.  Gould  of 
Boston,  and  afterward  by  M.  Deshayes,  as  probably  a  land- 
snail,  and  has  since  been  named  Pupa  vetusta. 

The  specimens  were  subsequently  taken  to  London  and  re- 
examined  by  Prof.  Owen,  who  confirmed  Wyman's  inferences, 
added  other  characters  to  the  description,  and  named  the 
larger  and  better  preserved  species  Dendrerpeton  Acadianutn, 
in  allusion  to  its  discovery  in  the  interior  of  a  tree,  and  to  its 
native  country  of  Acadia  or  Nova  Scotia.  It  is  necessary  to 
state  in  explanation  of  the  fragmentary  character  of  the  remains 
obtained,  that  in  the  decay  of  the  animals  imbedded  in  the 
erect  trees  at  the  Joggins,  their  skeletons  have  become  disar- 
ticulated, and  the  portions  scattered,  either  by  falling  into  the 
interstices  of  the  vegetable  fragments  in  the  bottom  of  the 
hollow  trunks,  or  by  the  water  with  which  these  may  have 
sometimes  been  partly  filled.  We  thus  usually  obtain  only 
separate  bones ;  and  though  all  of  these  are  no  doubt  present 


THE  OLDEST  AIR-BREATHERS  2/3 

in  each  case,  it  is  often  impossible  in  breaking  up  the  hard 
matrix  to  recover  more  than  a  portion  of  them.  The  original 
description  by  Owen  was  therefore  based  on  somewhat  imperfect 
material,  but  additional  specimens  subsequently  found  have 
supplemented  it  in  such  a  manner  as  to  enable  us  somewhat 
completely  to  restore  in  imagination  the  form  of  the  animal, 
which,  though  much  smaller  than  Baphetes,  agrees  with  it  in  its 
sculptured  bones,  in  its  bony  armature,  especially  beneath,  and 
in  its  plicated  teeth. 

In  form,  Dendrerpeton  Acadianum  was  probably  lizard-like  ; 
with  a  broad  flat  head,  short  stout  limbs  and  an  elongated  tail ; 
and  having  its  skin,  and  more  particularly  that  of  the  belly, 
protected  by  small  bony  plates  closely  overlapping  each  other, 
and  arranged  en  chevron,  in  oblique  rows  meeting  on  the 
mesial  line,  where  in  front  was  a  thoracic  plate.  It  may  have 
attained  the  length  of  two  feet.  The  form  of  the  head  is  not 
unlike  that  of  Baphetes,  but  longer  in  proportion  ;  and  much 
resembles  that  of  the  labyrinthodont  reptiles  of  the  Trias. 
The  bones  of  the  skull  are  sculptured  as  in  Baphetes,  but  in  a 
smaller  pattern. 

The  fore  limb  of  the  adult  animal,  including  the  toes, 
must  have  been  four  or  five  inches  in  length,  and  is  of 
massive  proportions.  The  bones  were  hollow,  and  in  the  case 
of  the  phalanges  the  bony  walls  were  thin,  so  that  they  are 
often  crushed  flat.  The  humerus,  or  arm  bone,  however,  was 
a  strong  bone,  with  thick  walls  and  a  cancellated  structure 
toward  its  extremities ;  still  even  these  have  sometimes  yielded 
to  the  great  pressure  to  which  they  have  been  subjected.  The 
cavity  of  the  interior  of  the  limb  bones  is  usually  filled  with 
calcspar  stained  with  organic  matter,  but  showing  no  struc- 
ture ;  and  the  inner  side  of  the  bony  wall  is  smooth  without 
any  indication  of  cartilaginous  matter  lining  it. 

The  vertebrae,  in  the  external  aspect  of  their  bodies,  remind 
one  of  those  of  fishes,  expanding  toward  the  extremities,  and 


2/4  THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS 

being  deeply  hollowed  by  conical  cavities,  which  appear  even 
to  meet  in  the  centre.  There  is,  however,  a  large  and  flattened 
neural  spine.  The  vertebrae  are  usually  much  crushed,  and  it 
is  almost  impossible  to  disengage  them  from  the  stone.  The 
ribs  are  long  and  curved,  showing  a  reptilian  style  of  chest. 
The  posterior  limb  seems  to  have  been  not  larger  than  the 
anterior,  perhaps  smaller.  The  tibia,  or  principal  bone  of  the 
fore  leg  is  much  flattened  at  the  extremity,  as  in  some  Labyrin- 
thodonts,  and  the  foot  must  have  been  broad,  and  probably 
suited  for  swimming,  or  walking  on  soft  mud,  or  both.  That 
the  hind  limb  was  adapted  for  walking  is  shown,  not  merely 
by  the  form  of  the  bones,  but  also  by  that  of  the  pelvis. 

The  external  scales  are  thin,  oblique-rhomboidal  or  elon- 
gated-oval, marked  with  slight  concentric  lines,  but  otherwise 
smooth,  and  having  a  thickened  ridge  or  margin,  in  which 
they  resemble  those  of  Archegosaurus,  and  also  those  of  Pholi- 
dogaster  pisciformis,  described  by  Huxley  from  the  Edinburgh 
coal  field, — an  animal  which  indeed  apppears  in  most  respects 
to  have  a  close  affinity  with  Dendrerpeton.  The  microscopic 
structure  of  the  scales  is  quite  similar  to  that  of  the  other 
bones,  and  different  from  that  of  the  scales  of  ganoid  fishes,  the 
shape  of  the  cells  being  batrachian.  For  other  particulars  of 
its  structure  reference  may  be  made  to  the  papers  named  at 
the  end  of  the  chapter. 

With  respect  to  the  affinities  of  the .  creature,  I  think  it  is 
obvious  that  it  is  most  nearly  related  to  the  group  of  Lahyrin- 
thodonts,  and  that  it  has  the  same  singular  mixture  of  batra- 
chian and  reptilian  characters  which  distinguish  these  ancient 
animals,  and  which  give  them  the  appearance  of  prototypes  of 
the  reptilian  class.  A  second  and  smaller  species  of  Den- 
drerpeton was  subsequently  obtained  at  the  Joggins,  and  others 
have  been  found,  more  especially  by  Fritsch,  in  the  Carboni- 
ferous and  Permian  of  Europe. 

This  ancient  inhabitant  of  the  coal  swamps  of  Nova  Scotia 


THE  OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS  275 

was,  in  short,  as  we  often  find  to  be  the  case  with  the  earliest 
forms  of  life,  the  possessor  of  powers  and  structures  not  usu- 
ally, in  the  modern  world,  combined  in  a  single  species.  It 
was  certainly  not  a  fish,  yet  its  bony  scales  and  the  form  of  its 
vertebrae,  and  of  its  teeth,  might,  in  the  absence  of  other  evi- 
dence, cause  it  to  be  mistaken  for  one.  We  call  it  a  Batrachian, 
yet  its  dentition,  the  sculpturing  of  the  bones  of  its  skull, 
which  were  certainly  no  more  external  plates  than  the  similar 
bones  of  a  crocodile,  its  ribs,  and  the  structure  of  its  limbs, 
remind  us  of  the  higher  reptiles  ;  and  we  do  not  know  that  it 
ever  possessed  gills,  or  passed  through  a  larval  or  fish-like 
condition.  Still,  in  a  great  many  important  characters,  its 
structures  are  undoubtedly  batrachian.  It  stands,  in  short,  in 
the  same  position  with  the  Lepidodendra  and  Sigillarice  under 
whose  shade  it  crept,  which,  though  placed  by  palseobotanists 
in  alliance  with  certain  modern  groups  of  plants,  manifestly 
differed  from  these  in  many  of  their  characters,  and  occupied 
a  different  position  in  nature.  In  the  coal  period  the  distinc- 
tions of  physical  and  vital  conditions  were  not  well  defined. 
Dry  land  and  water,  terrestrial  and  aquatic  plants  and  animals, 
and  lower  and  higher  forms  of  animal  and  vegetable  life,  are 
consequently  not  easily  separated  from  each  other.  This  is 
no  doubt  a  state  of  things  characteristic  of  the  earlier  stages  of 
the  earth's  history,  yet  not  necessarily  so ;  for  there  are  some 
reasons,  derived  from  fossil  plants,  for  believing  that  in  the 
preceding  Devonian  period  there  was  less  of  this,  and  conse- 
quently that  there  may  then  have  been  a  higher  and  more 
varied  animal  life  than  in  the  coal  period. * 

The  dentition  of  Dendrerpeton  shows  it  to  have  been  car- 
nivorous in  a  high  degree.  It  may  have  captured  fishes  and 
smaller  reptiles,  either  on  land  or  in  water,  and  very  probably 
fed  on  dead  carcases  as  well.  If,  as  seems  likely,  any  of  the 

1  See  the  author's  paper  on  Devonian  plants,  Journal  of  the   Geological 
Society,  vol.  xviii.  p.  328. 
14 


2/6  THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS 

footprints  referred  to  previously  belong  to  this  animal,  it 
must  have  frequented  the  shores,  either  in  search  of  garbage, 
or  on  its  way  to  and  from  the  waters.  The  occurrence  of  its 
remains  in  the  stumps  of  Sigillaria,  with  land  snails  and  milli- 
pedes, shows  also  that  it  crept  in  the  shade  of  the  woods  in 
search  of  food ;  and  in  noticing  coprolitic  matter,  in  a  subse- 
quent page,  I  shall  show  that  remains  of  excrementitious 
substances,  probably  of  this  species,  contain  fragments  attri- 
butable to  smaller  reptiles,  and  other  animals  of  the  land. 

All  the  bones  of  Dendrerpeton  hitherto  found,  as  well  as 
those  of  the  smaller  reptilian  species  hereafter  described,  have 
been  obtained  from  the  interior  of  erect  Sigillariae,  and  all  of 
these  in  one  of  the  many  beds,  which,  at  the  Joggins,  contain 
such  remains.  The  thick  cellular  inner  bark  of  Sigillaria  was 
very  perishable ;  the  slender  woody  axis  was  somewhat  more 
durable ;  but  near  the  surface  of  the  stem,  in  large  trunks, 
there  was  a  layer  of  elongated  cells,  or  bast  tissue,  of  consider- 
able durability,  and  the  outer  bark  was  exceedingly  dense  and 
indestructible. l  Hence  an  erect  tree,  partly  imbedded  in 
sediment,  and  subjected  to  the  influence  of  the  weather,  be- 
came a  hollow  shell  of  bark ;  in  the  bottom  of  which  lay  the 
decaying  remains  of  the  woody  axis,  and  shreds  of  the  fibrous 
bark.  In  ordinary  circumstances  such  hollow  stems  would  be 
almost  immediately  filled  with  silt  and  sand,  deposited  in  the 
numerous  inundations  and  subsidences  of  the  coal  swamps. 
Where,  however,  they  remained  open  for  a  considerable  time, 
they  would  constitute  a  series  of  pitfalls,  into  which  animals 
walking  on  the  surface  might  be  precipitated  ;  and  being  prob- 
ably often  partly  covered  by  remains  of  prostrate  trunks,  or 
by  vegetation  growing  around  their  mouths,  they  would  be 
places  of  retreat  and  abode  for  land  snails  and  such  creatures. 
When  the  surface  was  again  inundated  or  submerged,  all  such 

1  See  a  paper  by  the  author,  on  the  Structures  of  Coal,  Journal  of  the 
Geological  Society,  vol.  xv. ;  also  "  Supplement  to  Acadian  Geology." 


A  REPTILIFEROUS  TREE  in  situ,  South  Joggins,  N.  Scotia. 
This   is  a  sketch  of  a  tree  which  afforded  remains  of  Dendrerpeton, 
Pupae,  etc. 


THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS  2/7 

animals,  with  the  remains  of  those  which  had  fallen  into  the 
deeper  pits,  would  be  imbedded  in  the  sediment  which  would 
then  fill  up  the  holes.  These  seem  to  have  been  the  precise 
conditions  of  the  bed  which  has  afforded  all  these  remains. 

The  history  of  a  bed  containing  reptiliferous  erect  trees 
would  thus  be  somewhat  as  follows  : — 

A  forest  or  grove  of  the  large-ribbed  trees  known  as  Sigil- 
lari(g^  was  either  submerged  by  subsidence,  or,  growing  on  low 
ground,  was  invaded  with  the  muddy  waters  of  an  inundation, 
or  successive  inundations,  so  that  the  trunks  were  buried  to 
the  depth  of  several  feet.  The  projecting  tops  having  been 
removed  by  subaerial  decay,  the  buried  stumps  became  hollow, 
while  their  hard  outer  bark  remained  intact.  They  thus  be- 
came hollow  cylinders  in  a  vertical  position,  and  open  at  top. 
The  surface  having  then  become  dry  land,  covered  with  vegeta- 
tion, was  haunted  by  small  quadrupeds  and  other  land  animals, 
which  from  time  to  time  fell  into  the  open  holes,  in  some  cases 
nine  feet  deep,  and  could  not  extricate  themselves.  On  their 
death,  and  the  decomposition  of  their  soft  parts,  their  bones 
and  other  hard  portions  remained  in  the  bottom  of  the  tree 
intermixed  with  any  vegetable  debris  or  soil  washed  in  by  rain, 
and  which  formed  thin  layers  separating  successive  animal 
deposits  from  each  other.  Finally,  the  area  was  again  sub- 
merged or  overflowed  by  water,  bearing  sand  and  mud.  The 
hollow  trees  were  filled  to  the  top,  and  their  animal  contents 
thus  sealed  up.  At  length  the  material  filling  the  trees  was  by 
pressure  and  the  access  of  cementing  matter  hardened  into 
stone,  not  infrequently  harder  than  that  of  the  containing  beds, 
and  the  whole  being  tilted  to  an  angle  of  20°,  and  elevated  into 
land  exposed  to  the  action  of  the  tides  and  waves,  these  singular 
coffins  present  themselves  as  stony  cylinders  projecting  from 
the  cliff  or  reef,  and  can  be  extracted  and  their  contents 
studied. 

The  singular  combination  of  accidents  above  detailed  was, 


278  THE   OLDEST  AIR-BREATHERS 

of  course,  of  very  rare  occurrence,  and  in  point  of  fact  we 
know  only  one  set  of  beds  at  the  South  Joggins  in  which  such 
remains  so  preserved  occur ;  nor  is  there,  so  far  as  I  am  aware, 
any  other  known  instance  elsewhere.  Even  in  the  beds  in 
question  only  a  portion  of  the  trees,  about  fifteen  in  thirty, 
have  afforded  animal  remains.  We  have,  however,  thus  been 
enabled  to  obtain  specimens  of  a  number  of  species  which 
would  probably  otherwise  have  been  unknown,  being  less 
likely  than  others  to  be  preserved  in  properly  aqueous  de- 
posits. Such  discoveries,  on  the  one  hand  impress  us  with 
the  imperfection  of  the  geological  record ;  on  the  other,  they 
show  us  the  singular  provisions  which  have  been  made  in  the 
course  of  geological  time  for  preserving  the  relics  of  the  ancient 
world,  and  which  await  the  industry  and  skill  of  collectors  to 
disclose  their  hidden  treasures. 

I  may  add  that  I  believe  all  the  trees,  about  thirty  in  num- 
ber, which  have  become  exposed  in  this  bed  since  its  dis- 
covery, have  been  ransacked  for  such  remains ;  and  that  while 
the  majority  have  afforded  some  reward  for  the  labour,  some 
have  been  far  more  rich  than  others  in  their  contents.  It  is 
also  to  be  observed  that  owing  to  the  mode  of  accumulation 
of  the  mass  filling  the  trees,  the  bones  are  usually  found  scat- 
tered in  every  position,  and  those  of  different  species  inter- 
mingled ;  and  that  being  often  much  more  friable  than  the 
matrix,  much  labour  is  required  for  their  development ;  while 
after  all  has  been  done,  the  result  is  a  congeries  of  fragments. 
A  few  specimens  only  have  been  found,  showing  skeletons 
complete,  or  nearly  so,  and  I  shall  endeavour  to  figure  one  or 
two  of  these  by  way  of  illustration  in  the  present  chapter. 

The  beds  on  a  level  with  the  top  of  the  reptiliferous  erect 
trees  are  arenaceous  sandstones,  with  numerous  erect  Cala- 
mites.  I  have  searched  the  surfaces  of  these  beds  in  vain  for 
bones  or  footprints  of  the  reptiles  which  must  have  traversed 
them,  and  which,  but  for  hollow  erect  trees,"  would  apparently 


A  TYPICAL  CARBONIFEROUS  MICROSAURIAN,  Hylonomus  Lyelli—  Re- 
storation showing  dermal  armour  and  ornaments.  Skeleton  restored  from 
measurements  of  the  bones  of  the  type  specimen  figured  at  the  beginning 
of  the  chapter. 


THE  OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS  2/9 

have  left  no  trace  of  their  existence.  On  a  surface  of  similar 
character,  sixty  feet  higher,  and  separated  by  three  coals,  with 
their  accompaniments,  and  a  very  thick  compact  sandstone,  I 
observed  a  series  of  footprints,  which  may  be  those  of  Dendrer- 
peton  or  Hylonomus. 

SPECIES  OF  MICROSAURIA.     HYLONOMUS  LYELLI. 

In  the  original  reptiliferous  tree  discovered  by  Sir  C.  Lyell 
and  the  writer,  at  the  Joggins,  in  1851,  there  were,  beside  the 
bones  of  Dendrerpeton  Acadianum,  some  small  elongated 
vertebrae,  evidently  of  a  different  species.  These  were  first 
detected  by  Prof.  Wyman,  in  his  examination  of  these  speci- 
mens, and  were  figured,  but  not  named,  in  the  original  notice 
of  the  specimens.  In  a  subsequent  visit  to  the  Joggins  I 
obtained  from  another  erect  stump  many  additional  remains  of 
these  smaller  reptiles,  and,  on  careful  comparison  of  the  speci- 
mens, was  induced  to  refer  them  to  three  species,  all  appa- 
rently generically  allied.  I  proposed  for  them  the  generic 
name  Hylonomus,  "  forest  dweller."  They  were  described  in 
the  Proceedings  of  the  Geological  Society  for  1859,  with  illustra- 
tions of  the  teeth  and  other  characteristic  parts. x  The  smaller 
species  first  described  I  named  H,  Wymani;  the  next  in  size, 
that  to  which  this  article  refers,  and  which  was  represented  by 
a  larger  number  of  specimens,  I  adopted  as  a  type  of  the  genus, 
and  dedicated  to  Sir  Charles  Lyell.  The  third  and  largest, 
represented  only  by  a  few  fragments  of  a  single  skeleton,  was 
named  H.  ariedentatus.  This  I  had  subsequently  to  remove 
to  a  new  genus,  Smilerpeton. 

Hylonomus  Lyelli  was  an  animal  of  small  size.  Its  skull  is 
about  an  inch  in  length,  and  its  whole  body,  including  the  tail, 
could  not  have  been  more  than  six  or  seven  inches,  long.  The 
bones  appear  to  have  been  thin  and  easily  separable  ;  and  even 

1  Journal  of  Geological  Society,  vol.  xvi. 
14* 


280  THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS 

when  they  remain  together,  are  so  much  crushed  as  to  render 
the  shape  of  the  skull  not  easily  discernible.  They  are  smooth 
on  the  outer  surface  to  the  naked  eye  ;  and  under  a  lens  show 
only  delicate,  uneven  striae  and  minute  dots.  They  are  more 
dense  and  hard  than  those  of  Dendrerpeton,  and  the  bone  cells 
are  more  elongated  in  form.  The  bones  of  the  snout  would 
seem  to  have  been  somewhat  elongated  and  narrow.  A  speci- 
men in  my  possession  shows  the  parietal  and  occipital  bones, 
or  the  greater  part  of  them,  united  and  retaining  their  form. 
We  learn  from  them  that  the  brain  case  was  rounded,  and  that 
there  was  a  parietal  foramen.  There  would  seem  also  to  have 
been  two  occipital  condyles,  as  in  modern  Batrachians.  Several 
well-preserved  specimens  of  the  maxillary  and  mandibular 
bones  have  been  obtained.  They  are  smooth,  or  nearly  so, 
like  those  of  the  skull,  and  are  furnished  with  numerous  sharp, 
conical  teeth,  anchylosed  to  the  jaw,  in  a  partial  groove 
formed  by  the  outer  ridge  of  the  bone.  In  the  anterior  part  of 
the  lower  jaw  there  is  a  group  of  teeth  larger  than  the  others. 
The  total  number  of  teeth  in  each  ramus  of  the  lower  jaw  was 
about  forty,  and  the  number  in  each  maxillary  bone  about 
thirty.  The  teeth  are  perfectly  simple,  hollow  within,  and 
with  very  fine  radiating  tubes  of  ivory.  The  vertebras  have 
the  bodies  cyclindrical  or  hour-glass  shaped,  covered  with  a 
thin,  hard,  bony  plate,  and  having  within  a  cavity  of  the  form 
of  two  cones,  attached  by  the  apices.  This  cavity  was  com- 
pletely surrounded  by  bone,  as  it  is  filled  with  stained  calcspar 
in  the  same  manner  as  the  cavities  of  the  limb  bones.  It  was 
probably  occupied  by  cartilage.  The  vertebrae  were  apparently 
bi-concave,  and  are  furnished  with  upper  and  lateral  processes 
similar  to  those  of  small  lacertian  animals.  The  ribs  are  long, 
curved,  and  at  the  proximal  end  have  a  shoulder  and  neck. 
They  are  hollow,  with  thin  hard  bony  walls.  The  anterior 
limb,  judging  from  the  fragment  procured,  seems  to  have  been 
slender,  with  long  toes,  four  or  ssibly  five  in  number.  The 


THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS  28 1 

posterior  limb  was  longer  and  stronger,  and  attached  to  a 
pelvis  so  large  and  broad  as  to  give  the  impression  that  the 
creature  enlarged  considerably  in  size  toward  the  posterior  ex- 
tremity of  the  body,  and  that  it  may  have  been  in  the  habit  of 
sitting  erect.  The  thigh  bone  is  large  and  well  formed,  with  a 
distinct  head  and  trochanter,  and  the  lower  extremity  flattened 
and  moulded  into  two  articulating  surfaces  for  the  tibia  and 
fibula,  the  fragments  of  which  show  that  they  were  much 
shorter.  The  toes  of  the  hind  feet  have  been  seen  only  in 
detached  joints.  They  seem  to  have  been  thicker  than  those 
of  the  fore  foot.  Detached  vertebrae,  which  seem  to  be  caudal, 
have  been  found,  and  show  that  the  tail  was  long  and  probably 
not  flattened.  The  limb  bones  are  usually  somewhat  crushed 
and  flattened,  especially  at  their  articular  extremities,  and  this 
seems  to  have  led  to  the  error  of  supposing  that  this  flattened 
form  was  their  normal  condition  ;  there  can  be  no  doubt,  how- 
ever, that  it  is  merely  an  effect  of  pressure.  The  limb  bones 
present  in  cross  section  a  wall  of  dense  bone  with  elongated  bone- 
cells,  surrounding  a  cavity  now  filled  with  brown  calcspar,  and 
originally  occupied  with  cartilage  or  marrow.  I  desire  to  specify 
the  above  points  because  I  believe  that  most  of  the  creatures 
referred  by  Fritsch,  Credner,  and  other  European  naturalists 
to  the  Microsauria  are  of  inferior  grade  to  Hylonomus,  though 
admitted  to  present  points  of  approximation  to  the  true  rep- 
tiles. Woodward  has  recently  described  the  remains  of  a 
Microsaurian  from  the  English  coal  formation.  Nothing  is 
more  remarkable  in  the  skeleton  of  this  creature  than  the  con- 
trast between  the  perfect  and  beautiful  forms  of  its  bones,  and 
their  imperfectly  ossified  condition,  a  circumstance  which  raises 
the  question  whether  these  specimens  may  not  represent  the 
young  of  some  reptile  of  larger  size. 

The  dermal  covering  of  this  animal  is  represented  in  part  by 
oval  bony  scales,  which  are  so  constantly  associated  with  its 
bones  that  I  can  have  no  doubt  that  they  belonged  to  it,  being, 


282  THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS 

perhaps,  the  clothing  of  its  lower  or  abdominal  parts.  But  the 
most  remarkable  and  unexpected  feature  of  this  little  creature 
was  the  beautiful  and  ornate  scaly  covering  of  its  back  and 
sides.  Modern  Batrachians  are  characteristically  naked,  and 
though  we  know  that  some  fossil  species  had  coverings  below 
of  bony  scales,  these  seemed  rather  to  ally  them  with  bony 
fishes.  One  of  the  specimens  of  Hylonomus  had  associated 
with  it  a  quantity  of  crumpled  shining  skin,  black  and  car- 
bonaceous, and  which  may  perhaps  have  been  tanned  and  so 
preserved  by  the  water  filling  the  hollow  tree  impregnated 
with  solution  of  tannin  from  the  bark.  This  skin  was  covered 
with  minute  overlapping  scales,  which,  under  the  microscope, 
showed  the  structure  of  horn  rather  than  of  bone.  Besides 
these  ordinary  scales  there  were  bony  prominences,  like 
those  of  the  horned  frog,  on  the  back  and  shoulders,  and  a 
species  of  epaulettes  made  of  long  horny  bristles  curved  down- 
ward, and  apparently  placed  at  the  edges  of  the  shoulders. 
Besides  these  there  were  in  front  and  at  the  side  rows  of  pen- 
dants or  lappets,  all  no  doubt  ornamented  with  colouring, 
though  now  perfectly  black.  It  may  be  asked  what  was  the 
use  of  the  ornate  covering,  and  perhaps  the  question  raises 
that  perplexing  problem,  of  the  use  of  beauty  in  a  world  where 
there  were  no  animals  with  higher  aesthetic  faculties  than  those 
of  Batrachians.  Scudder  suggests  a  somewhat  prosaic  use  in 
supposing  them  to  be  an  armour  against  the  venomous  scor- 
pions which  were  the  contemporaries  of  these  little  reptiles, 
and  some  ot  them  almost  as  large  in  size.  But  the  word  "ven- 
omous "  raises  another  question,  for  we  only  infer  that  the 
scorpions  were  venomous  from  modern  analogy  and  traces  of 
an  inflated  joint  at  the  end  of  the  tail  in  some  specimens.  We 
have  no  absolute  certainty  that  the  subtle  and  complex  organic 
poison  of  the  scorpion,  and  his  beautiful  injection  syringe  for 
placing  it  under  the  skin,  were  perfected  at  this  early  time. 
Thus  we  have  in  the  far  back  Carboniferous  age  a  creature  as 


THE  OLDEST  AIR-BREATHERS  283 

elaborately  ornamented  and  protected  as  any  of  the  modern 
lizards,  and  this,  let  it  be  observed,  constitutes  another  and  im- 
portant departure  from  that  batrachian  type  to  which  these 
animals  are  supposed  to  conform.  I  may  add  here  that  sub- 
sequently portions  of  skin  were  found,  which  from  their  size 
probably  belonged  to  Dendrerpeton,  and  that  these  also  were 
scaly  and  had  lappets,  though  they  did  not  appear  to  have  the 
horny  tubercles  and  fringes.  It  may  be  asked  why  such 
advanced  characters  should  be  found  in  Nova  Scotia  alone. 
The  answer  is  that  the  circumstances  of  preservation  in  the 
erect  trees  were  peculiar,  and  that  only  animals  of  purely  ter 
restrial  habits  could  find  access  to  them,  whereas  the  remains 
of  reptiles  found  in  the  Carboniferous  elsewhere  are  in  aqueous 
beds  in  which  aquatic  forms  were  more  likely  to  be  preserved, 
and  in  which  all  the  soft  parts  were  certain  to  perish. 

It  is  evident  from  the  remains  thus  described,  that  we  have 
in  Hylonomus  Lyelli  an  animal  of  lacertian  form,  with  large 
and  stout  hind  limbs,  and  somewhat  smaller  fore  limbs,  cap- 
able of  walking  and  running  on  land  ;  and  though  its  vertebrae 
were  imperfectly  ossified  externally,  yet  the  outer  walls  were 
sufficiently  strong,  and  their  articulation  sufficiently  firm,  to 
have  enabled  the  creature  to  erect  itself  on  its  hind  legs,  or  to 
leap.  They  were  certainly  proportionately  larger  and  much 
more  firmly  knit  than  those  of  Dendrerpeton.  Further,  the 
ribs  were  long  and  much  curved,  and  imply  a  respiration  of  a 
higher  character  than  that  of  modern  Batrachians,  and  conse- 
quently a  more  highly  vitalized  muscular  system.  If  to  these 
•structural  points  we  add  the  somewhat  rounded  skull,  indicat- 
ing a  large  brain,  we  have  before  us  a  creature  which,  however 
puzzling  in  its  affinities  when  anatomically  considered,  is  clearly 
not  to  be  ranked  as  low  in  the  scale  of  creation  as  modern 
tailed  Batrachians,  or  even  as  the  frogs  and  toads.  We  must 
add  to  these  also,  as  important  points  of  difference,  the  bony 
scales  with  which  it  was  armed  below,  and  the  ornate  appa- 


284  THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS 

ratus  of  horny  appendages,  with  which  it  was  clad  above. 
These  last,  as  described  in  the  last  section,  show  that  this  little 
animal  was  not  a  squalid,  slimy  dweller  in  mud,  like  Meno- 
branchus  and  its  allies,  but  rather  a  beautiful  and  sprightly 
tenant  of  the  coal-formation  thickets,  vying  in  brilliancy,  and 
perhaps  in  colouring,  with  the  insects  which  it  pursued  and 
devoured.  Remains  of  as  many  as  eight  or  ten  individuals 
have  been  obtained  from  three  erect  Sigillarise,  indicating  that 
these  creatures  were  quite  abundant,  as  well  as  active  and  ter- 
restrial in  their  mode  of  life. 

With  respect  to  the  affinities  of  this  species,  I  think  it  is 
abundantly  manifest  that  it  presents  no  close  relationship  with 
any  reptile  hitherto  discovered  in  the  Carboniferous  system, 
except  perhaps  some  of  the  smaller  forms  in  the  Permian  of 
Europe,  with  which  Credner  and  Fritsch  have  compared  it.  It 
is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  the  characters  above  described 
entirely  remove  this  animal  from  the  Labyrinthodonts.  Equal 
difficulties  attend  the  attempt  to  place  it  in  any  other  group 
of  recent  or  extinct  Batrachians  or  proper  reptiles.  The  struc- 
tures of  the  skull,  and  of  some  points  in  the  vertebrae,  certainly 
resemble  those  of  Batrachians ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
well-developed  ribs,  evidently  adapted  to  enlarge  the  chest  in 
respiration,  the  pelvis,  and  the  cutaneous  covering,  are  un- 
exampled in  modern  Batrachians,  and  assimilate  the  creature 
to  the  true  lizards.  I  have  already,  in  my  original  description 
of  the  animal  in  1859,  expressed  my  belief  that  Hylonomus 
may  have  had  lacertian  affinities,  but  I  do  not  desire  to  speak 
too  positively  in  this  matter  ;  *  and  thall  content  myself  with 
stating  the  following  alternatives  as  to  the  probable  relations 
of  these  animals,  (i)  They  may  have  been  true  reptiles  of  low 
type,  and  with  batrachian  tendencies.  (2)  They  may  have 
been  representatives  of  a  new  family  of  Batrachians,  exhibit- 
ing in  some  points  lacertian  affinities.  (3)  They  may  have 

1  I  am  glad  to  say  that  Fritsch  and  Credner  now  lean  to  the  same  view. 


THE   OLDEST  AIR-BREATHERS  285 

been  the  young  of  some  larger  reptile,  too  large  and  vigorous 
to  be  entrapped  in  the  pitfalls  presented  by  the  hollow  Sigil- 
laria  stumps,  and  in  its  adult  state  losing  the  batrachian  pecu- 
liarities apparent  in  the  young.  Whichever  of  these  views  we 
may  adopt,  the  fact  remains,  that  in  the  structure  of  this  curi- 
ous little  creature  we  have  peculiarities  both  batrachian  and 
lacertian,  in  so  far  as  our  experience  of  modern  animals  is 
concerned.  It  would,  however,  accord  with  observed  facts  in 
relation  to  other  groups  of  extinct  animals,  that  the  primitive 
Batrachians  of  the  coal  period  should  embrace  in  their  struc- 
tures points  in  after  times  restricted  to  the  true  reptiles.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  would  equally  accord  with  such  facts  that 
the  first-born  of  Lacertians  should  lean  towards  a  lower  type,  by 
which  they  may  have  been  preceded.  My  present  impression 
is,  that  they  may  constitute  a  separate  family  or  order,  to  which 
I  would  give  the  name  of  MICROSAURIA,  and  which  may  be 
regarded  as  allied,  on  the  one  hand,  to  certain  of  the  humbler 
lizards,  as  the  Gecko  or  Agama,  and,  on  the  other,  to  the 
tailed  Batrachians. 

It  is  likely  that  Hylonomus  Lyelli  was  less  aquatic  in  its 
habits  than  Dendrerpeton,  Its  food  consisted,  apparently,  of 
insects  and  similar  creatures.  The  teeth  would  indicate  this, 
and  near  its  bones  there  are  portions  of  coprolite,  containing 
remains  of  insects  and  myriapods.  It  probably  occasionally 
fell  a  prey  to  Dendrerpeton,  as  bones,  which  may  have  belonged 
either  to  young  individuals  of  this  species  or  to  its  smaller 
congener  H.  Wymani,  are  found  in  larger  coprolites,  which 
may  be  referred  with  probability  to  Dendrerpeton  Acadianum. 
This  coprolitic  matter,  which  is  somewhat  plentiful  on  some  of 
the  surfaces  in  the  erect  trees,  also  informs  us  that  the  im- 
prisoned animals  may  in  some  cases  have  continued  to  live  for 
some  time,  feeding  on  such  animals  as  may  have  fallen  into 
their  place  of  confinement,  which  was  destined  also  to  be 
their  tomb.  Some  other  points  of  interest  appear  on  the 


286  THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS 

examination  of  this  excrementitious  matter.  It  contains  much 
carbonate  of  lime,  indicating  that  snails  or  other  mollusks 
furnished  a  considerable  part  of  the  food  of  the  smaller  rep- 
tiles. Some  portions  of  it  are  filled  with  chitinous  fragments, 
parts  of  millipedes  or  insects,  but  usually  so  broken  up  as 
scarcely  to  be  distinguishable.  One  curious  exception  was  a 
part  of  the  head  of  an  insect  containing  a  portion  of  one  of  its 
eyes.  The  facets  of  this  can  be  readily  seen  with  the  micro- 
scope, and  are  similar  to  those  of  modern  cockroaches.  About 
250  of  these  little  eyes  are  discernible,  and  they  must  have 
been  much  more  numerous.  Two  points  are  of  interest  here : 
First,  the  perfection  of  the  compound  eye  for  vision  in  air. 
It  had  long  before,  in  the  case  of  the  Trilobites,  been  used  for 
seeing  under  water.  Secondly,  the  great  age  of  the  still  ubi- 
quitous and  aggressive  family  of  the  cockroaches.  In  point  of 
fact  the  oldest  known  insect,  the  Protoblattina  of  the  Silurian, 
is  one  of  these  creatures,  and  they  are  the  most  abundant  in- 
sects in  the  Carboniferous,  so  that  if  they  now  dispute  with  us 
the  possession  of  our  food,  they  may  at  least  put  in  the  claim 
of  prior  occupancy  of  the  world.  In  one  mass  a  quantity  of 
thickish  crust  or  shell  appears,  which  under  the  microscope 
presents  a  minutely  tubular  and  laminated  appearance.  It  may 
have  belonged  to  some  small  crustacean  or  large  scorpion  on 
which  a  Dendrerpeton  may  have  been  feeding  before  it  fell  into 
the  pit  in  which  it  was  entombed. 

In  addition  to  the  reptilian  species  above  noticed,  the  erect 
trees  of  Coal  Mine  Point  have  afforded  several  others.  There 
is  a  second  and  smaller  species  of  Dendrerpeton  (D.  Owent) 
and  other  forms  belonging  to  the  group  of  Microsauria  of  which 
Hylonomus  is  the  type.  A  second  species  of  that  genus  (H. 
Wymani)  has  already  been  mentioned.  A  similar  creature,  but 
of  larger  size  and  with  teeth  of  a  wedge  or  chisel  shape,  has 
been  referred  to  a  distinct  genus,  Smilerpeton,  It  seems  to 
have  been  rare,  and  the  only  skeleton  found  is  very  imperfect. 


Dolichosoma  /ongissimum,  a  serpentiform  Permian  Batrachian  after 
Fritsch.  This  and  Hylonomus  are  opposite  or  extreme  types  in  regard  to 
general  form. 


THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS  287 

Its  teeth  are  of  a  form  that  may  have  served  even  for 
vegetable  food,  as  their  sharp  edges  must  have  had  considerable 
cutting  power.  Another  curious  form  of  tooth  appears  in  the 
genus  Hylerpeton.  It  has  the  points  worked  into  oblique 
grooves  separated  by  sharp  edges,  which  must  have  greatly 
aided  in  piercing  tough  integument.  These  creatures  seem  to 
have  been  of  stout  and  robust  build,  with  large  limbs.  Still 
another  generic  type  (Fritschia)  is  represented  by  a  species 
near  to  Hylonomus  in  several  respects,  and  with  long  and  beau- 
tifully formed  limb  bones,  but  with  the  belly  protected  with 
rod-like  bodies  instead  of  scales.  In  this  respect  Hylerpeton 
is  somewhat  intermediate,  having  long  and  narrow  scales  on 
the  belly  instead  of  the  oval  or  roundish  scales  of  Hylonomus. 
All  these  last-mentioned  forms  are  Microsaurians,  with  simple 
teeth  and  well-developed  ribs  and  limbs,  and  smooth  cranial 
bones.  Two  other  species  are  represented  by  portions  of 
single  skeletons  too  imperfect  to  allow  them  to  be  certainly 
determined. 

I  would  emphasize  here  that  the  vertebrate  animals  found 
in  the  erect  trees  are  necessarily  a  selection  from  the  most 
exclusively  terrestrial  forms,  and  from  the  smaller  species  of 
these.  The  numerous  newt-like  and  serpentiform  species  found 
in  the  shales  of  the  coal  formation  could  not  find  access  to  these 
peculiar  repositories,  nor  could  the  larger  species  of  the  Laby- 
rinthodonts  and  their  allies,  even  if  they  were  in  the  habit  cf 
occasionally  prowling  in  the  forests  in  search  of  prey,  and  this 
would  scarcely  be  likely,  more  especially  as  the  waters  must 
have  afforded  to  them  much  more  abundant  supplies  of  food. 
Of  the  numerous  species  figured  by  Fritsch,  Cope  and  Huxley, 
only  a  few  approach  very  near  to  the  forms  entrapped  in  the 
old  hollow  Sigillariae,  though  several  have  characters  half  ba- 
trachian  and  half  reptilian. 


288  THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS 


INVERTEBRATE  AIR-BREATHERS. 

The  coal  formation  rocks  have  afforded  Land  Snails,  Milli- 
pedes, Spiders,  Scorpions  and  Insects,  so  that  all  the  great 
types  of  invertebrate  life  which  up  to  this  day  can  live  on  land 
already  had  representatives  in  this  ancient  period.  Some  of 
them,  indeed,  we  can  trace  further  back,  the  land  snails  prob- 
ably to  the  Devonian,  the  Millipedes  to  the  same  period,  and 
the  Scorpions  and  insects  as  far  as  the  Silurian.  No  land  ver- 
tebrate is  yet  known,  older  than  the  Lower  Carboniferous,  but 
there  is  nothing  known  to  us  in  physical  condition,  to  preclude 
the  existence  of  such  creatures  at  least  in  the  Devonian. 

It  would  take  us  too  far  afield  to  attempt  to  notice  the  in- 
vertebrate land  life  of  the  Palaeozoic  in  general.  This  has  been 
done  in  great  detail  by  Dr.  Scudder.  I  shall  here  limit  myself 
to  the  animals  found  in  our  erect  trees,  and  merely  touch  in- 
cidentally on  such  others  as  may  be  connected  with  them. 

I  have  already  mentioned  the  occurrence  of  a  land  snail, 
a  true  pulmonate  mollusk,  in  the  first  find  by  Lyell  and  my- 
self at  Coal  Mine  Point,  and  this  was  the  first  animal  of  this 
kind  known  in  any  rocks  older  than  the  Purbeck  formation  of 
England.  It  is  one  of  the  groups  of  so-called  Chrysalis-shells, 
scarcely  distinguishable  at  first  sight  from  some  modern  West 
Indian  species,  and  distinctly  referable  to  the  modern  genus 
Pupa.  It  was  named  Pupa  vetusta,  and  a  second  and  smaller 
species  subsequently  found  was  named  P.  Bigsbyi,  and  a  third 
of  different  form,  and  resembling  the  modern  snails,  bears  the 
name  Zonites  priscus.  The  only  other  Palaeozoic  land  mol- 
lusks  known  at  present  are  a  few  species  found  in  the  coal 
formation  of  Ohio,  and  a  fragment  supposed  to  indicate  another 
species  from  the  Devonian  plant  beds  of  St.  John's,  New 
Brunswick.  .This  last  is  the  oldest  known  evidence  of  pulmon- 
ate snails.  If  we  ask  the  precise  relations  of  these  creatures  to 
modern  snails,  it  may  be  answered  that  of  the  two  leading  sub- 


CARBONIFEROUS  LAND  SNAILS. 

Pupa  vetusta,  Dawson,  and  Conulus  priscus,  Carpenter,  with  egg  of 
Pupa  vetusta — the  whole  considerably  magnified. 


I  published  in  1880,  in  the  Ameri- 
can Journal  of  Science,  a  fragment  of 
what  seemed  to  be  a  land  snail,  from 
the  Middle  Erian  plant  beds  of  St. 
John,  New  Brunswick  (Strophia  grand- 
ceva,  figured  here),  but  have  mentioned 
it  with  some  doubt  in  the  text.  Mr.  G. 
F.  Matthew  has,  however,  recently 
communicated  to  the  Royal  Society  of 
Canada  a  second  species,  found  by  Mr. 
W.  I.  \Vilson  in  the  same  beds,  and 
which  he  names  Pupa  primava.  It  is 
accompanied  with  a  scorpion  and  a 
millipede.  Thus  the  existence  of  Land 
Snails  of  the  Pupa  type  in  the  Devonian 
may  be  considered  as  established. 


AN  LAND  SNAIL. 


THE  OLDEST  AIR-BREATHERS  289 

divisions  of  the  group  of  air-breathing  snails  (Pulmonifera),  the 
Operculate,  or  those  with  a  movable  plate  to  close  the  mouth 
of  the  shell,  and  the  Inoperculate,  or  those  that  are  destitute 
of  any  such  shelly  lid  or  operculum  to  close  the  shell,  the  first 
has  been  traced  no  farther  back  than  the  Eocene.  The  second 
or  inoperculate  division,  includes  some  genera  that  are  aquatic 
and  some  that  are  terrestrial.  Of  the  aquatic  genera  no  re- 
presentatives are  known  in  formations  older  than  the  Wealden 
and  Purbeck,  and  these  only  in  Europe.  The  terrestrial  group, 
or  the  family  of  the  Helicidcz,  which,  singularly  enough,  is  that 
which  diverges  farthest  from  the  ordinary  gill-bearing  Gastero- 
pods,  is  the  one  which  has  been  traced  farthest  back,  and 
includes  the  Palaeozoic  species.  It  is  further  remarkable  that 
a  very  great  gap  exists  in  the  geological  history  of  this  family. 
No  species  are  known  between  the  Carboniferous  and  the  early 
Tertiary,  though  in  the  intervening  formations  there  are  many 
fresh-water  and  estuarine  deposits  in  which  such  remains 
might  be  expected  to  occur.  There  is  perhaps  no  reason  to 
doubt  the  continuance  of  the  Helicidse  through  this  long  por- 
tion of  geological  time,  though  it  is  probable  that  during  the 
interval  the  family  did  not  increase  much  in  the  numbers  of 
its  species,  more  especially  as  it  seems  certain  that  it  has  its 
culmination  in  the  modern  period,  where  it  is  represented  by 
very  many  and  large  species,  which  are  dispersed  over  nearly 
all  parts  of  our  continents. 

The  mode  of  occurrence  of  the  Palaeozoic  Pulmonifera  in 
the  few  localities  where  they  have  been  found  is  characteristic. 
The  earliest  known  species,  Pupa  vetusta,  was  found,  as 
already  stated,  in  the  material  filling  the  once  hollow  stem  of 
a  Sigillaria  at  the  South  Joggins  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  many 
additional  specimens  have  subsequently  been  obtained  from 
similar  repositories  in  the  same  locality,  where  they  are  associ- 
ated with  bones  of  Batrachians  and  remains  of  Millipedes. 
Other  specimens,  and  also  the  species  Zonites  friscus,  have 


290  THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS 

been  found  in  a  thin,  shaly  layer,  containing  debris  of  plants 
and  crusts  of  Cyprids,  and  which  was  probably  deposited  at 
the  outlet  of  a  small  stream  flowing  through  the  coal-formation 
forest.  The  two  species  found  in  Illinois  occur,  according  to 
Bradley,  in  an  underclay  or  fossil  soil  which  may  have  been 
the  bed  of  a  pond  or  estuary,  and  subsequently  became  a 
forest  subsoil.  The  Erian  .species  occurs  in  shales  charged 
with  remains  of  land  plants,  and  which  must  consequently 
have  received  abundant  drainage  from  neighbouring  land.  It 
is  only  in  such  deposits  that  remains  of  true  land  snails  can  be 
expected  to  occur ;  though,  had  fresh  water  or  brackish  water 
Pulmonates  abounded  in  the  Carboniferous  age,  their  remains 
should  have  occurred  in  those  bituminous  and  calcareo-bitu- 
minous  shales  which  contain  such  vast  quantities  of  debris  of 
Cyprids,  Lamellibranchs  and  fishes  of  the  period,  mixed  with 
fossil  plants. 

The  specimen  first  obtained  in  1887  having  been  taken  by 
Sir  Charles  Lyell  to  the  United  States,  and  submitted  to  the 
late  Prof.  Jeffries  Wyman,  the  shell  in  question  was  recognised 
by  him  and  the  late  Dr.  Gould,  of  Boston,  as  a  land  shell.  It 
was  subsequently  examined  by  M.  Deshayes  and  Mr.  Gwyn 
Jeffries,  who  concurred  in  this  determination  ;  and  its  micro- 
scopic structure  was  described  by  the  late  Prof.  Quekett,  of 
London,  as  similar  to  that  of  modern  land  shells.  The  single 
specimen  obtained  on  this  occasion  was  somewhat  crushed, 
and  did  not  show  the  aperture.  Hence  the  hesitation  as  to 
its  nature,  and  the  delay  in  naming  it,  though  it  was  figured 
and  described  in  the  paper  above  cited  in  1852.  Better 
specimens  showing  the  aperture  were  afterward  obtained  by 
the  writer,  and  it  was  named  and  described  by  him  in  his 
"  Air-breathers  of  the  Coal  Period,"  in  1863.  Owen,  in  his 
"Palaeontology,"  subsequently  proposed  the  generic  name 
Dendropupa.  This  I  have  hesitated  to  accept,  as  expressing 
a  generic  distinction  not  warranted  by  the  facts  ;  but  should 


THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS  29 1 


the  shell  be  considered  to  require  a  generic  or  sub-generic 
distinction,  Owen's  name  should  be  adopted  for  it.  There 
seems,  however,,  nothing  to  prevent  it  from  being  placed  in 
one  of  the  modern  sub-genera  of  simple-lipped  Pupae.  With 
regard  to  the  form  of  its  aperture,  I  may  explain  that  some 
currency  has  been  given  to  an  incorrect  representation  of  it, 
through  defective  specimens.  In  the  case  of  delicate  shells 
like  this,  imbedded  in  a  hard  matrix,  it  is  of  course  difficult 
to  work  out  the  aperture  perfectly ;  and  in  my  published 
figure  in  the  "  Air-breathers,"  I  had  to  restore  somewhat  the 
broken  specimens  in  my  possession.  This  restoration,  speci- 
mens subsequently  found  have  shown  to  be  very  exact. 

As  already  stated,  this  shell  seems  closely  allied  to  some 
modern  Pupae.  Perhaps  the  modern  species  which  approaches 
most  nearly  to  it  in  form,  markings  and  size,  is  Macrocheilus 
Gossei  from  the  West  Indies,  specimens  of  which  were  sent  to 
me  some  years  ago  by  Mr.  Bland,  of  New  York,  with  the 
remark  that  they  must  be  very  near  to  my  Carboniferous 
species.  Such  edentulous  species  as  Pupa  (Leucochila]  fallax 
of  Eastern  America  very  closely  resemble  it ;  and  it  was  re- 
garded by  the  late  Dr.  Carpenter  as  probably  a  near  ally  of 
those  species  which  are  placed  by  some  European  concholo- 
gists  in  the  genus  Pupilla. 

Pupa  vetusta  has  been  found  at  three  distinct  levels  in  the 
coal  formation  of  the  South  Joggins.  The  lowest  is  the  shale 
above  referred  to.  The  next,  1,217  feet  higher,  is  that  of  the 
original  discovery.  The  third,  800  feet  higher,  is  in  an  erect 
Sigillaria  holding  no  other  remains.  Thus,  this  shell  has  lived 
in  the  locality  at  least  during  the  accumulation  of  2,000  feet 
of  beds,  including  a  number  of  coals  and  erect  forests,  as  well 
as  beds  of  bituminous  shales  and  calcareo-bituminous  shale, 
the  growth  of  which  must  have  been  very  slow. 

In  the  lowest  of  these  three  horizons  the  shells  are  found, 
as  already  stated,  in  a  thin  bed  of  concretionary  clay  of  dark 


292  THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS 


grey  colour,  though  associated  with  reddish  beds.  It  contains 
Zonites  priscus  as  well,  though  this  is  very  rare,  and  there  are 
a  few  valves  of  Cythere  and  shells  of  Naiadites  as  well  as 
carbonaceous  fragments,  fronds  of  ferns,  Trigonocarpa^  etc. 
The  Pupa  are  mostly  adult,  but  many  very  young  shells  also 
occur,  as  well  as  fragments  of  broken  shells.  The  bed  is 
evidently  a  layer  of  mud  deposited  in  a  pond  or  creek,  or  at 
the  mouth  of  a  small  stream.  In  modern  swamps  multitudes 
of  fresh- water  shells  occur  in  such  places,  and  it  is  remarkable 
that  in  this  case  the  only  Gasteropods  are  land  shells,  and 
these  very  plentiful,  though  only  in  one  bed  about  an  inch  in 
thickness.  This  would  seem  to  imply  an  absence  of  fresh- 
water Pulmonifera.  In  the  erect  Sigillaria  of  the  second 
horizon  the  shells  occur  either  in  a  sandy  matrix,  more  or  less 
darkened  with  vegetable  matter,  or  in  a  carbonaceous  mass 
composed  mainly  of  vegetable  debris.  Except  when  crushed 
or  flattened,  the  shells  in  these  repositories  are  usually  filled 
with  brownish  calcite.  From  this  I  infer  that  most  of  them 
were  alive  when  imbedded,  or  at  least  that  they  contained  the 
bodies  of  the  animals ;  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  they 
sheltered  themselves  in  the  hollow  trees,  as  is  the  habit  of 
many  similar  animals  in  modern  forests.  Their  residence  in 
these  trees,  as  well  as  the  characters  of  their  embryology,  are 
illustrated  by  the  occurrence  of  their  mature  ova.  One  of 
those,  which  I  have  considered  worth  figuring,  has  been  broken 
in  such  a  way  as  to  show  the  embryo  shell. 

They  may  also  have  formed  part  of  the  food  of  the  reptilian 
animals  whose  remains  occur  with  them.  In  illustration  of 
this  I  have  elsewhere  stated  that  I  have  found  as  many  as 
eleven  unbroken  shells  of  Fhysa  heterostropha  in  the  stomach 
of  a  modern  Menobranchus.  I  think  it  certain,  however,  that 
both  the  shells  and  the  reptiles  occurring  in  these  trees  must 
have  been  strictly  terrestrial  in  their  habits,  as  they  could  not 
have  found  admission  to  the  erect  trees  unless  the  ground  had 


THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS  293 

been  sufficiently  dry  to  allow  several  feet  of  the  imbedded 
hollow  trunks  to  be  free  from  water.  In  the  highest  of  the 
three  horizons  the  shells  occurred  in  an  erect  tree,  but  without 
any  other  fossils,  and  they  had  apparently  been  washed  in 
along  with  a  greyish  mud.1 

If  we  exclude  the  alleged  Palaorbis  referred  to  below,  all 
the  Palaeozoic  Pulmonifera  hitherto  found  are  American. 
Since,  however,  in  the  Carboniferous  age,  Batrachians,  Arach- 
nidans,  Insects  and  Millipedes  occur  on  both  continents,  it  is 
not  unlikely  that  ere  long  European  species  of  land  snails  will 
be  announced  The  species  hitherto  found  in  Eastern 
America  are  in  every  way  strangely  isolated.  In  the  plant 
beds  of  St.  John,  about  9,000  feet  in  thickness,  and  in  the 
coal  formation  of  the  South  Joggins,  more  than  7,000  feet  in 
thickness,  no  other  Gasteropods  occur,  nor,  I  believe,  do  any 
occur  in  the  beds  holding  land  snails  in  Illinois.  Nor,  as 
already  stated,  are  any  of  the  aquatic  Pulmonifera  known  in 
the  Palaeozoic.  Thus,  in  so  far  as  at  present  known,  these 
Palaeozoic  snails  are  separated  not  only  from  any  predecessors, 
if  there  were  any,  or  successors,  but  from  any  contemporary 
animals  allied  to  them. 

It  is  probable  that  the  land  snails  of  the  Erian  and  Carboni- 
ferous were  neither  numerous  nor  important  members  of  the 
faunas  of  those  periods.  Had  other  species  existed  in  any 
considerable  numbers,  there  is  no  reason  why  they  should  not 
have  been  found  in  the  erect  trees,  or  in  those  shales  which 
contain  land  plants.  More  especially  would  the  discovery  of 
any  larger  species,  had  they  existed,  been  likely  to  have 
occurred.  Further,  what  we  know  of  the  vegetation  of  the 
Palaeozoic  period  would  lead  us  to  infer  that  it  did  not  abound 

1  The  discovery  of  the  shells  in  this  tree  was  made  by  Albert  I.  Hill, 
C.E.  The  tree  is  in  Group  XXVI.  of  Division  4  of  my  Joggins  section. 
The  original  reptiliferous  trees  are  in  Group  XV.,  and  the  lowest  bed  in 
Group  VIII. 


294  THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS 

in  those  succulent  and  nutritious  leaves  and  fruits  which  are 
most  congenial  to  land  snails.  It  is  to  be  observed,  however, 
that  we  know  little  as  yet  of  the  upland  life  of  the  Erian  or 
Carboniferous.  The  animal  life  of  the  drier  parts  of  the  low 
country  is  indeed  as  yet  very  little  known ;  and  but  for  the 
revelations  in  this  respect  of  the  erect  trees  in  one  bed  in  the 
coal  formation  of  Nova  Scotia,  our  knowledge  of  the  land 
snails  and  Millipedes,  and  also  of  an  eminently  terrestrial  group 
of  reptiles,  the  Microsauria,  would  have  been  much  more 
imperfect  than  it  is.  We  may  hope  for  still  further  revelations 
of  this  kind,  and  in  the  meantime  it  would  be  premature  to 
speculate  as  to  the  affinities  of  our  little  group  of  land  snails 
with  animals  either  their  contemporaries  or  belonging  to 
earlier  or  later  formations,  except  to  note  the  fact  of  the  little 
change  of  form  or  structure  in  this  type  of  life  in  that  vast 
interval  of  time  which  separates  the  Erian  period  from  the 
present  day. 

It  may  be  proper  to  mention  here  the  alleged  Pulmonifera 
of  the  genus  Palxorbis  described  by  some  German  naturalists. 
These  I  believe  to  be  worm  tubes  of  the  genus  Spirorbis,  and 
in  fact  to  be  nothing  else  than  the  common  S.  carbonarius  or 
S.  pusillus  of  the  coal  formation.  The  history  of  this  error 
may  be  stated  thus.  The  eminent  palaeobotanists  Germar, 
Gceppert  and  Geinitz  have  referred  the  Spirorbis,  so  common 
in  the  Coal  measures  to  the  fungi,  under  the  name  Gyromyces, 
and  in  this  they  have  been  followed  by  other  naturalists, 
though  as  long  ago  as  1868  I  had  shown  that  this  little 
organism  is  not  only  a  calcareous  shell,  attached  by  one  side 
to  vegetable  matters  and  shells  of  mollusks,  but  that  it  has  the 
microscopic  structure  characteristic  of  modern  shells  of  this 
type.1  More  recently  Van  Beneden,  Csenius,  and  Goldenberg, 
perceiving  that  the  fossil  is  really  a  calcareous  shell,  but 

1  "Acadian  Geology,"  2nd  edition,  p.  205. 


THE  OLDEST  AIR-BREATHERS  295 

apparently  unaware  of  the  observations  made  in  this  country 
by  myself  and  Mr.  Lesquereux,  have  held  the  Spirorbis  to  be  a 
pulmonate  mollusk  allied  to  Planorbis,  and  have  supposed  that 
its  presence  on  fossil  plants  is  confirmatory  of  this  view, 
though  the  shells  are  attached  by  a  flattened  side  to  these 
plants,  and  are  also  found  attached  to  shells  of  bivalves  of  the 
genus  Naiadites.  Mr.  R.  Etheridge,  jun.,  of  the  Geological 
Survey  of  Great  Britain,  has  summed  up  the  evidence  as  to  the 
true  nature  of  these  probably  brackish-water  shells,  and  has 
revised  and  added  to  the  species,  in  a  series  of  articles  in  the 
Geological  Magazine  of  London,  vol.  viii. 

The  erect  trees  of  Coal  Mine  Point  are  rich  in  remains  of 
Millipedes.  The  first  of  these  (Xylobius  Sigillarice),  which  was 
the  first  known  Palaeozoic  Myriapod,  was  described  by  me 
from  specimens  found  in  a  tree  extracted  in  1852,  and  this, 
with  a  number  of  other  remains  subsequently  found,  was  after- 
wards placed  in  the  hands  of  Dr.  Scudder,  who  has  recognised 
in  the  material  submitted  to  him  eight  species  belonging  to 
three  genera  (Xylobitis,  Archiulus,  and  Amynifyspes).  These 
animals  in  all  probability  haunted  these  trees  to  feed  on  the 
decaying  wood  and  other  vegetable  matter,  and  were  un- 
doubtedly themselves  the  prey  of  the  Microsaurians.  Though 
these  were  the  earliest  known,  their  discovery  was  followed  by 
that  of  many  other  species  in  Europe  and  America,  and  some 
of  them  as  old  as  the  Devonian.1 

The  only  other  remains  of  Air-breathers  found  in  the  erect 
trees  belong  to  Scorpions,  of  which  some  fragments  remain  in 
such  a  state  as  to  make  it  probable  that  they  have  been 
partially  devoured  by  the  imprisoned  reptiles.  No  remains  of 
any  aquatic  animals  have  been  found  in  these  trees.  The 

1  The  two  first-named  genera  from  the  erect  trees,  according  to  Scudder, 
belong  to  an  extinct  family  of  Millipedes,  which  he  names  Archiulidoe, 
and  places  with  other  Carboniferous  genera  in  the  order  Archipolypoda. 
The  third  belongs  to  family  Euphoberidcc.  Proc.  R.  S.  of  London,  1892. 


296  THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS 

Scorpions  are  referred  by  Scudder  to  three  species  belonging 
to  two  genera.1 

In  the  previous  paper  we  have  considered  the  mode  of 
accumulation  of  Coal,  and  it  may  be  useful  here  to  note  the 
light  thrown  on  this  subject  by  the  Air-breathers  of  the  coal 
formation  and  their  mode  of  occurrence. 

In  no  part  of  the  world  are  the  coal  measures  better 
developed,  or  more  fully  exposed,  than  in  the  coast  sections  of 
Nova  Scotia  and  Cape  Breton ;  and  in  these,  throughout  their 
whole  thickness,  no  indication  has  been  found  of  any  of  the 
marine  fossils  of  the  Lower  Carboniferous  Limestone.  Abun- 
dant remains  of  fishes  occur,  but  these  may  have  frequented 
estuaries,  streams  and  ponds,  and  the  greater  part  of  them  are 
small  ganoids  which,  like  the  modern  Lepidosteus  and  Amia, 
may  have  been  specially  fitted  by  their  semi-reptilian  respira- 
tion, for  the  impure  waters  of  swampy  districts.  Bivalve 
mollusks  also  abound  ;  but  these  are  all  of  the  kinds  to  which 
I  have  given  the  generic  name  Naiadites,  and  Mr.  Salter  those 
of  Anthracomya  and  Anthracoptera.  These  shells  are  all 
distinct  from  any  known  in  the  marine  limestones.  Their  thin 
edentulous  valves,  their  structure  consisting  of  a  wrinkled 
epidermis,  a  thin  layer  of  prismatic  shell  and  an  inner  layer  of 
imperfectly  pearly  shell,  all  remind  us  of  the  Anodons  and 
Unios.  A  slight  notch  in  front  concurs  with  their  mode  of 
occurrence  in  rendering  it  probable  that,  like  mussels  in 
modern  estuaries,  they  attached  themselves  to  floating  or 
sunken  timber.  They  are  thus  removed,  both  in  structure  and 
habit,  from  truly  marine  species ;  and  may  have  been  fresh- 
water or  brackish-water  mussels  closely  allied  to  modern 
Unios. 

The  crustaceans  (Eurypterus,  Diplostylus,  Cyprids\  and  the 

1  Mazonia  Acadica,  and  a  second  species  of  Mazonia,  with  fragments 
of  a  third  species,  generally  distinct.  Proceedings  Royal  Society  of  London, 
1892. 


CARBONIFEROUS  MILLIPEDES,  Xylobius  Sigillaria,  Dawson  (a,  c),  and 
Archiulus  xylobioides,  Scudder  (b). 

CARBONIFEROUS  COCKROACH. — Blatlina  Bretotu-nsis,  Sc. 

CARBONIFEROUS  SCORPION. — Anthracomartus  Carbonarius,  abdominal 
segments. 


THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS  297 

worm  shell  (Spirorbis)  found  with  them,  are  not  necessarily 
marine,  though  some  of  them  belonged  probably  to  brackish 
water,  and  they  have  not  yet  been  found  in  those  carboniferous 
beds  deposited  in  the  open  sea.  There  is  thus  in  the  whole 
thickness  of  the  middle  coal  measures  of  Nova  Scotia  a 
remarkable  absence  at  least  of  open  sea  animals ;  and  if,  as  is 
quite  probable,  the  sea  inundated  at  intervals  the  areas  of  coal 
accumulation,  the  waters  must  have  been  shallow,  and  to  a 
great  extent  land-locked,  so  that  brackish-water  rather  than 
marine  animals  inhabited  them. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  in  these  coal  measures 
abundant  evidences  of  land  surfaces  ;  and  subaerial  decay  of 
vegetable  matter  in  large  quantity  is  proved  by  the  occurrence 
of  the  mineral  charcoal  of  the  coal  itself,  as  I  have  elsewhere 
shown.1  The  erect  trees  which  occur  at  so  many  levels  also 
imply  subaerial  decay.  A  tree  imbedded  in  sediment  and 
remaining  under  water,  could  not  decay  so  as  to  become 
hollow  and  deposit  the  remains  of  its  wood  in  the  state  of 
mineral  charcoal  within  the  hollow  bark.  Yet  this  is  the  case 
with  the  greater  part  of  the  erect  Sigillariae  which  occur  at 
more  than  twenty  levels  in  the  Joggins  section.  Nor  could 
such  hollow  trunks  become  repositories  for  millipedes,  snails 
and  reptiles,  if  under  water.  On  the  other  hand,  if,  as  seems 
necessary  to  explain  the  character  of  the  reptiliferous  erect 
trees,  these  remained  dry,  or  nearly  so,  in  the  interior,  this 
would  imply  not  merely  a  soil  out  of  water,  but  comparatively 
well  drained ;  as  would  indeed  always  be  the  case,  when  a  flat 
resting  on  a  sandy  subsoil  was  raised  several  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  water.  Further,  though  the  peculiar  character  of 
the  roots  of  Sigillarice  and  Calamites  may  lend  some  counten- 
ance to  the  supposition  that  they  could  grow  under  water,  or  in 
water-soaked  soils,  this  will  not  apply  to  coniferous  trees,  to 

*  Journal  of  Geological  Survey,  vol.  xv. 


298  THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS 

ferns,  and  other  plants,  which  are  found  under  circumstances 
which  show  that  they  grew  with  the  Sigillarice. 

In  the  coal  measures  of  Nova  Scotia,  therefore,  while  marine 
conditions  are  absent,  there  are  ample  evidences  of  fresh-water 
or  brackish-water  conditions,  and  of  land  surfaces,  suitable  for 
the  air  breathing  animals  of  the  period.  Nor  do  I  believe  that 
the  coal  measures  of  Nova  Scotia  were  exceptional  in  this 
respect.  It  is  true  that  in  Great  Britain  evidences  of  marine 
life  do  occur  in  the  coal  measures ;  but  not,  so  far  as  I  am 
aware,  in  circumstances  which  justify  the  inference  that  the 
coal  is  of  marine  origin.  Alternations  of  marine  and  land 
remains,  and  even  mixtures  of  these,  are  frequent  in  modern 
submarine  forests.  When  we  find,  as  at  Fort  Lawrence  in 
Nova  Scotia,  a  modern  forest  rooted  in  upland  soil  forty  feet 
below  high-water  mark,1  and  covered  with  mud  containing 
living  Tellinas  and  Myas,  we  are  not  justified  in  inferring  that 
this  forest  grew  in  the  sea.  We  rather  infer  that  subsidence 
has  occurred.  In  modern  salt  marshes  it  is  not  unusual  to 
find  every  little  runnel  or  pool  full  of  marine  shell  fish,  while  in 
the  higher  parts  of  the  marsh  land  plants  are  growing ;  and 
in  such  places  the  deposit  formed  must  contain  a  mixture  of 
land  plants  and  marine  animals  with  salt  grasses  and  herbage 
— the  whole  in  situ? 

These  considerations  serve,  I  think,  to  explain*  all  the 
apparently  anomalous  associations  of  coal  plants  with  marine 
fossils ;  and  I  do  not  know  any  other  arguments  of  apparent 
weight  that  can  be  adduced  in  favour  of  the  marine  or  even 


1  Jou>  nal  of  Geological  Society,  vol.  xi. 

2  In  the  marshes  at  the  mouth  of  Scarborough  River,  in  Maine,  channels 
not  more  than  a  foot  wide,  and  far  from  the  sea,  are  full  of  Mussels  and 
My«e ;  and  in  little  pools  communicating  with   these  channels  there  are 
often  many  young  Limuli,  which  seem  to  prefer  such  places,  and  the  cast- 
off  shells  and  other  remains  of  which  may  become  imbedded  in  mud  and 
mixed  with  land  plants,  just  as  in  the  shales  of  the  coal  measures. 


THE   OLDEST  AIR-BREATHERS  299 

aquatic  origin  of  coal,  except  such  as  are  based  on  misconcep- 
tions of  the  structure  and  mode  of  growth  of  sigillaroid  trees 
and  of  the  stratigraphical  relations  of  the  coal  itself.1  It  is  to 
be  observed,  however,  that  while  I  must  maintain  the  essen- 
tially terrestrial  character  of  the  ordinary  coal  and  of  its  plants, 
I  have  elsewhere  admitted  that  cannel  coals  and  earthy 
bitumen  present  evidences  of  subaquatic  deposition ;  and 
have  also  abundantly  illustrated  the  facts  that  the  coal  plants 
grew  on  swampy  flats,  liable  not  only  to  river  inundations,  but 
also  to  subsidence  and  submergence.2  In  the  oscillation  of 
these  conditions  it  is  evident  that  Sigillarice  and  their  con- 
temporaries must  often  have  been  placed  in  conditions  un- 
favourable or  fatal  to  them,  and  when  their  remains  are 
preserved  to  us  in  these  conditions,  we  may  form  very  incorrect 
inferences  as  to  their  mode  of  life.  Further,  it  is  to  be 
observed  that  the  conditions  of  submergence  and  silting  up 
which  were  favourable  to  the  preservation  of  specimens  of 
Sigillarice  as  fossils,  must  have  been  precisely  those  which 

1  It  is  unfortunate  that  few  writers  on  this  subject  have  combined  with 
the  knowledge  of  the  geological  features  of  the  coal  a  sufficient  acquaint- 
ance with  the  phenomena  of  modern  marshes  and  swamps,  and  with  the 
conditions  necessary  for  the  growth  of  piants  such  as  those  of  the  coal. 
It  would  be  easy  to  show,  were  this  a  proper  place  to  do  so,  that  the 
"swells,"  "rock  faults,"  splitting  of  beds,  and  other  appearances  of  coal 
seams  quite  accord  with  the  theory  of  swamp  accumulation ;    that  the 
plants  associated  with  Sigillarice  could  not  have  lived    with  their  roots 
immersed  in  salt  water  ;    that   the  chemical  character  of  the  underclays 
implies  drainage  and  other  conditions  impossible  under  the  sea  ;  that  the 
composition  and  minute  structure  of  the  coal  are  incompatible  with  the 
supposition  that  it  is  a  deposit  from  water,  and   especially  from  salt  water; 
and  that  it  would  be  more  natural  to  invoke  wind  driftage  as  a  mode  of 
accumulation  for  some  of  the  sandstones,  than  water  driftage  for  the  forma- 
tion of  the  coal.     At  the  same  time  it  is  pretty  certain  that  such  beds  as 
the  cannels  and  earthy  bitumens  which  appear  to  consist  of  finely  Com- 
minuted vegetable  matter,  without  mineral  charcoal,  may  have  been  de- 
posits of  muck  in  shallow  lakes  or  lagoons. 

2  Journal  of  Geol.  Socy.,  vols.  x.  and  xv.,  and  "Acadian  Geology." 


300  THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS 

were  destructive  to  them  as  living  plants  ;  and  on  the  contrary, 
that  the  conditions  in  which  these  forests  may  have  flourished 
for  centuries  must  have  been  those  in  which  there  was  little 
chance  of  their  remains  being  preserved  to  us,  in  any  other 
condition  at  least  than  that  of  coal,  which  reveals  only  to 
careful  microscopic  examination  the  circumstances,  whether 
aerial  or  aquatic,  under  which  it  was  formed. 

It  is  also  noticeable  that,  in  conditions  such  as  those  of  the 
coal  formation,  it  would  be  likely  that  some  plants  would  be 
specially  adapted  to  occupy  newly  emerged  flats  and  places 
liable  to  inundation  and  silting  up.  I  believe  that  many  of  the 
SigtllaricB,  and  still  more  eminently  the  Ca/ami/es,  were  suit- 
able to  such  stations.  There  is  direct  evidence  that  the  nuts 
named  Trigonocarpa  were  drifted  extensively  by  water  over 
submerged  flats  of  mud.  Many  Cardiocarpa  were  winged 
seeds  which  may  have  drifted  in  the  air.  The  Calamites  may, 
like  modern  Equiseta,  have  produced  spores  with  elaters  cap- 
able of  floating  them  in  the  wind.  One  of  the  thinner  coals 
at  the  Joggins  is  filled  with  spores  or  spore  cases  that  seem  to 
have  carried  hairs  on  their  surfaces,  and  may  have  been  suited 
to  such  a  mode  of  dissemination.  I  have  elsewhere  proved 1 
that  at  least  some  species  of  Calamites  were,  by  their  mode  of 
growth,  admirably  fitted  for  growing  amid  accumulating  sedi- 
ment, and  for  promoting  its  accumulation. 

The  reptiles  of  the  coal  formation  are  probably  the  oldest 
known  to  us,  and  possibly,  though  this  we  cannot  affirm,  the 
highest  products  of  creation  in  this  period.  Supposing,  for 
the  moment,  that  they  are  the  highest  animals  of  their  time, 
and,  what  is  perhaps  less  likely,  that  those  which  we  know  are  a 
fair  average  of  the  rest,  we  have  the  curious  fact  that  they  are . 
all  carnivorous,  and  the  greater  part  of  them  fitted  to  find  food 
in  the  water  as  well  as  on  the  land.  The  plant  feeders  of  the 
period,  on  the  land  at  least,  are  all  invertebrates,  as  snails, 
1  "Acadian  Geology,"  chapter  on  Coal  Plants. 


THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS  30! 

millipedes,  and  perhaps  insects.  The  air-breathing  vertebrates 
are  not  intended  to  consume  the  exuberant  vegetable  growth, 
but  to  check  the  increase  of  its  animal  enemies.  Plant  life 
would  thus  seem  to  have  had  in  every  way  the  advantage. 
The  millipedes  probably  fed  only  on  roots  and  decaying  sub- 
stances, the  snails  on  the  more  juicy  and  succulent  plants 
growing  in  the  shadow  of  the  woods,  and  the  great  predomi- 
nance of  the  family  of  cockroaches  among  carboniferous  insects 
points  to  similar  conclusions  as  to  that  class.  While,  moreover, 
the  vegetation  of  the  coal  swamps  was  most  abundant,  it  was 
not,  on  the  whole,  of  a  character  to  lead  us  to  suppose  that  it 
supported  many  animals.  Our  knowledge  of  the  flora  of  the 
coal  swamps  is  sufficiently  complete  to  exclude  from  them  any 
abundance  of  the  higher  phaenogamous  plants.  We  know 
little,  it  is  true,  of  the  flora  of  the  uplands  of  the  period ;  but 
when  we  speak  of  the  coal-formation  land,  it  is  to  the  flats  only 
that  we  refer.  The  foliage  of  the  plants  on  these  flats  with  the 
exception  of  that  of  the  ferns,  was  harsh  and  meagre,  and  there 
seem  to  have  been  no  grasses  or  other  nutritious  herbaceous 
plants.  These  are  wants  of  themselves  likely  to  exclude  many 
of  the  higher  forms  of  herbivorous  life.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  was  a  profusion  of  large  nut-like  seeds,  which  in  a  modern 
forest  would  probably  have  afforded  subsistence  to  squirrels 
and  similar  animals.  The  pith  and  thick  soft  bark  of  many  of 
the  trees  must  at  certain  seasons  have  contained  much  nutri- 
tive matter,  while  there  was  certainly  sufficient  material  for  all 
those  insects  whose  larvae  feed  on  living  and  dead  timber,  as 
well  as  for  the  creatures  that  in  turn  prey  on  them.  It  is  re- 
markable that  there  seem  to  have  been  no  vertebrate  animals 
fitted  to  avail  themselves  of  these  vast  stores  of  food.  The 
question  :  "  What  may  have  fed  on  all  this  vegetation  ?  "  was 
never  absent  from  my  mind  in  all  my  explorations  of  the  Nova 
Scotia  coal  sections  ;  but  no  trace  of  any  creature  other  than 
those  already  mentioned  has  ever  rewarded  my  search.  In 


3O2  THE   OLDEST  AIR-BREATHERS 

Nova  Scotia  it  would  seem  that  a  few  snails,  gally-worms,  and 
insects  were  the  sole  links  of  connection  between  the  plant 
creation  and  air-breathing  vertebrates.  Is  this  due  to  the 
paucity  of  the  fauna,  or  the  imperfection  of  the  record  ?  The 
fact  that  a  few  erect  stumps  have  revealed  nearly  all  the  air- 
breathers  yet  found,  argues  strongly  for  the  latter  cause ;  but 
there  are  some  facts  bearing  on  the  other  side. 

A  gally-worm,  if,  like  its  modern  relatives,  hiding  in  crevices 
of  wood  in  forests,  was  one  of  the  least  likely  animals  to  be 
found  in  aqueous  deposits.  The  erect  trees  gave  it  its  almost 
sole  chance  of  preservation.  Pupa  vetusta  is  a  small  species, 
and  its  shell  very  thin  and  fragile,  while  it  probably  lived  among 
thick  vegetation.  Further,  the  measures  2,000  feet  thick, 
separating  the  lowest  and  highest  beds  in  which  it  occurs,  in- 
clude twenty-one  coal  seams,  having  an  aggregate  thickness  of 
about  twenty  feet,  three  beds  of  bituminous  limestone  of  animal 
origin,  and  perhaps  twenty  beds  holding  Stigmaria  in  situ,  or 
erect  Sigillaria  and  Calamites.  The  lapse  of  time  implied  by 
this  succession  of  beds,  many  of  them  necessarily  of  very  slow 
deposition,  must  be  very  great,  though  it  would  be  mere  guess 
work  to  attempt  to  resolve  it  into  years.  Yet  long  though  this 
interval  must  have  been,  Pupa  vetusta  lasted  without  one  iota 
of  change  through  it  all ;  and,  more  remarkable  still,  was  not 
accompanied  by  more  than  two  other  species  of  its  family. 
Where  so  many  specimens  occur,  and  in  situations  so  diverse, 
without  any  additional  species,  the  inference  is  strong  that  no 
other  of  similar  habits  existed.  If  in  any  of  those  subtropical 
islands,  whose  climate  and  productions  somewhat  resemble 
those  of  the  coal  period,  after  searching  in  and  about  decaying 
trees,  and  also  on  the  bars  upon  which  rivers  and  lakes  drifted 
their  burdens  of  shells,  we  should  find  only  three  species,  but 
one  of  these  in  very  great  numbers,  we  would  surely  conclude 
that  other  species,  if  present,  were  very  rare. 

Again,  footprints  referable  to  Dendrerpeton,  or  similar  animals, 


THE  OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS  303 

occur  in  the  lower  Carboniferous  beds  below  the  marine  lime- 
stones, in  the  middle  coal  measures,  and  in  the  upper  coal 
formation,  separated  by  a  thickness  of  beds  which  may  be 
estimated  at  15,000  feet,  and  certainly  representing  a  vast  lapse 
of  time.  Did  we  know  the  creature  by  these  impressions 
alone,  we  might  infer  its  continued  existence  for  all  this  great 
length  of  time ;  but  when  we  also  find  its  bones  in  the  princi- 
pal repositories  of  reptile  remains,  and  in  company  with  the 
other  creatures  found  with  it,  we  satisfy  ourselves  that  of  them 
all  it  was  the  most  likely  to  have  left  its  trail  in  the  mud  flats. 
We  thus  have  reason  to  conclude  that  it  existed  alone  during 
this  period,  in  so  far  as  its  especial  kind  of  habitat  was  con- 
cerned ;  though  there  lived  with  it  other  reptiles,  some  of 
which,  haunting  principally  the  woods,  and  others  the  water, 
were  less  likely  to  leave  impressions  of  their  footprints.  These 
may  be  but  slight  indications  of  truth,  but  they  convey  strong 
impressions  of  the  persistence  of  species,  and  also  of  the  pau- 
city of  species  belonging  to  these  tribes  at  the  time. 

If  we  could  affirm  that  the  Air-breathers  of  the  coal  period 
were  really  the  first  species  of  their  families,  they  might  acquire 
additional  interest  by  their  bearing  on  this  question  of  origin 
of  species.  We  cannot  affirm  this  ;  but  it  may  be  a  harmless 
and  not  uninstructive  play  of  fancy  to  suppose  for  a  moment 
that  they  actually  are  so,  and  to  inquire  on  this  supposition  as 
to  the  mode  of  their  introduction.  Looking  at  them  from  this 
point  of  view,  we  shall  first  be  struck  with  the  fact  that  they 
belong  to  all  of  the  three  great  leading  types  of  animals  which 
include  our  modern  Air-breathers — the  Vertebrates,  the  Arthro- 
pods, and  the  Mollusks.  We  have  besides  to  consider  in  this 
connection  that  the  breathing  organs  of  an  insect  are  air  tubes 
opening  laterally  (trachece),  those  of  a  land  snail  merely  a 
modification  of  the  chamber  which  in  marine  species  holds  the 
gills,  while  those  of  the  reptiles  represent  the  air  bladder  of  the 
fishes.  Thus,  in  the  three  groups  the  breathing  organs  are 


304  THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS 

quite  distinct  in  their  nature  and  affinities.  This  at  once  ex- 
cludes the  supposition  that  they  can  all  have  been  derived  from 
each  other  within  the  limits  of  the  coal  period.  No  transmu- 
tationist  can  have  the  hardihood  to  assert  the  convertibility,  by 
any  direct  method,  of  a  snail  into  a  millipede  or  an  insect,  or 
of  either  into  a  reptile.  The  plan  of  structure  in  these  crea- 
tures is  not  only  different,  but  contrasted  in  its  most  essential 
features.  It  would  be  far  more  natural  to  suppose  that  these 
animals  sprang  from  aquatic  species  of  their  respective  types. 
We  should  then  seek  for  the  ancestors  of  the  snail  in  aquatic 
Gasteropods,  for  those  of  the  millipede  in  worms  or  Crustaceans, 
and  for  those  of  the  reptiles  in  the  fishes  of  the  period.  It 
would  be  easy  to  build  up  an  imaginary  series  of  stages,  on 
the  principle  of  natural  selection,  whereby  these  results  might 
be  effected  ;  but  the  hypothesis  would  be  destitute  of  any  sup- 
port from  fact,  and  would  be  beset  by  more  difficulties  than  it 
removes.  Why  should  the  result  of  the  transformation  of 
water  snails  breathing  by  gills  be  a  Pupa  ?  Would  it  not  much 
more  likely  be  an  Auricula  or  a  Limnea  ?  It  will  not  solve 
this  difficulty  to  say  that  the  intermediate  forms  became  ex- 
tinct, and  so  are  lost.  On  the  contrary,  they  exist  to  this  day, 
though  they  were  not,  in  so  far  as  we  know,  introduced  so 
early.  But  negative  evidence  must  not  be  relied  on;  the 
record  is  very  imperfect,  and  such  creatures  may  have  existed, 
though  unknown  to  us.  It  may  be  answered  that  they  could 
not  have  existed  in  any  considerable  numbers,  else  some  of 
their  shells  would  have  appeared  in  the  coal-formation  beds,  so 
rich  in  crustaceans  and  bivalve  mollusks.  Further,  the  little 
Pupa  remained  unchanged  during  a  very  long  time,  and  shows 
no  tendency  to  resolve  itself  into  anything  higher,  or  to  descend 
to  anything  lower,  while  in  the  lowest  bed  in  which  it  occurs 
it  is  associated  with  a  round  snail  of  quite  different  type. 
Here,  if  anywhere,  in  what  appears  to  be  the  first  introduction 
of  air-breathing  invertebrates,  we  should  be  able  to  find  the 


THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS  305 

evidences  of  transition  from  the  gills  of  the  Prosobranchiate 
and  the  Crustacean  to  the  air  sac  of  the  Pulmonate  and  the 
tracheae  of  the  millipede.  It  is  also  to  be  observed  that  many 
other  structural  changes  are  involved,  the  aggregate  of  which 
makes  a  Pulmonate  or  a  millipede  different  in  every  particular 
from  its  nearest  allies  among  gill-bearing  Gasteropods  or 
Crustaceans. 

It  may  be  said,  however,  that  the  links  of  connection  be- 
tween the  coal  reptiles  and  fishes  are  better  established.  All 
the  known  coal  reptiles  have  leanings  to  the  fishes  in  certain 
characters  ;  and  in  some,  as  in  Archegosaurus,  these  are  very 
close.  Still  the  interval  to  be  bridged  over  is  wide,  and  the 
differences  are  by  no  means  those  which  we  should  expect. 
Were  the  problem  given  to  convert  a  ganoid  fish  into  an 
Archegosaurus  or  Dendrerfeton,  we  should  be  disposed  to 
retain  unchanged  such  characters  as  would  be  suited  to  the 
new  habits  of  the  creature,  and  to  change  only  those  directly 
related  to  the  objects  in  view.  We  should  probably  give  little 
attention  to  differences  in  the  arrangement  of  skull  bones,  in 
the  parts  of  the  vertebrae,  in  the  external  clothing,  in  the  micro- 
scopic structure  of  the  bone,  and  other  peculiarities  for  serving 
similar  purposes  by  organs  on  a  different  plan,  which  are  so 
conspicuous  so  soon  as  we  pass  from  the  fish  to  the  Batrachian. 
It  is  not,  in  short,  an  improvement  of  the  organs  of  the  fish  that 
we  witness  so  much  as  the  introduction  of  new  organs.1  The 
foot  of  the  batrachian  bears,  perhaps,  as  close  a  relation  to  the 
fin  of  the  fish  as  the  screw  of  one  steamship  to  the  paddle 
wheel  of  another,  or  as  the  latter  to  a  carriage  wheel ;  and  can 
be  just  as  rationally  supposed  to  be  not  a  new  instrument,  but 
the  old  one  changed.  In  this  connection  even  a  footprint  in 
the  sand  startles  us  as  much  as  that  of  Friday  did  Robinson 

1  An  ingenious  attempt  by  Prof.  Cope,  to  deduce  the  batrachian  foot 
from  the  fins  of  certain  carboniferous  fishes,  will  be  found  in  the  Proceed- 
ings of  the  Philos.  Academy  of  Philadelphia  for  the  present  year. 


306  THE  OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS 

Crusoe.  We  see  five  fingers  and  toes,  and  ask  how  this 
numerical  arrangement  started  at  once  from  fin  rays  of  fishes 
all  over  the  world  j  and  how  it  has  continued  unchanged  till 
now,  when  it  forms  the  basis  of  our  decimal  arithmetic. 

Again,  our  reptiles  of  the  coal  do  not  constitute  a  continuous 
series,  and  belong  to  a  great  number  of  distinct  genera  and 
families,  nor  is  it  possible  that  they  can  all,  except  at  widely 
different  times,  have  originated  from  the  same  source.  It 
either  happened,  for  some  unknown  reason,  that  many  kinds  of 
fishes  put  on  the  reptilian  guise  in  the  same  period,  or  else  the 
vast  lapse  of  ages  required  for  the  production  of  a  reptile  from 
a  fish  must  be  indefinitely  increased  for  the  production  of  many 
dissimilar  reptiles  from  each  other ;  or,  on  the  other  hand,  we 
must  suppose  that  the  limit  between  the  fish  and  reptile  being 
once  overpassed,  a  facility  for  comparatively  rapid  changes 
became  the  property  of  the  latter.  Either  supposition  would, 
I  think,  contradict  such  facts  bearing  on  the  subject  as  are 
known  to  us. 

We  commenced  with  supposing  that  the  reptiles  of  the  Coal 
might  possibly  be  the  first  of  their  family,  but  it  is  evident 
from  the  above  considerations,  that  on  the  doctrine  of  natural 
selection,  the  number  and  variety  of  reptiles  in  this  period 
would  imply  that  their  predecessors  in  this  form  must  have 
existed  from  a  time  as  early  as  any  in  which  even  fishes  are 
known  to  exist ;  so  that  if  we  adopt  any  hypothesis  of  deriva- 
tion, it  would  probably  be  necessary  to  have  recourse  to  that 
which  supposes  at  particular  periods  a  sudden  and  as  yet  un- 
accountable transmutation  of  one  form  into  another;  a  view 
which,  in  its  remoteness  from  anything  included  under  ordinary 
natural  laws,  does  not  materially  differ  from  that  currently  re- 
ceived idea  of  creative  intervention,  with  which,  in  so  far  as 
our  coal  reptiles  can  inform  us,  we  are  for  the  present  satisfied. 

There  is  one  other  point  which  strikes  the  naturalist  in  con- 
sidering these  animals,  and  which  has  a  certain  bearing  on  such 


THE   OLDEST   AIR-BREATHERS  307 

hypothesis.  It  is  the  combination  of  various  grades  of  reptilian 
types  in  these  ancient  creatures.  It  has  been  well  remarked 
by  Hugh  Miller,  and  more  fully  by  Agassiz,  that  this  is  charac- 
teristic of  the  first  appearance  of  new  groups  of  animals.  Now 
selection,  as  it  acts  in  the  hands  of  the  breeder,  tends  to 
specialization  ;  and  natural  selection,  if  there  is  such  a  thing,  is 
supposed  to  tend  in  the  same  direction.  But  when  some  dis- 
tinctly new  form  is  to  be  introduced,  an  opposite  tendency 
seems  to  prevail,  a  sort  of  aggregation  in  one  species  of  char- 
acters afterward  to  be  separated  and  manifested  in  distinct 
groups  of  creatures.  The  introduction  of  such  new  types  also 
tends  to  degrade  and  deprive  of  their  higher  properties  pre- 
viously existing  groups  of  lower  rank.  It  is  easy  to  perceive  in 
all  this,  law  and  order,  in  that  higher  sense  in  which  these 
terms  express  the  will  and  plan  of  the  Supreme  Mind,  but  not 
in  that  lower  sense  in  which  they  represent  the  insensate 
operation  of  blind  natural  forces. 

REFERENCES  :— "  Air-breathers  of  the  Coal  Period."  Montreal,  1886. 
Papers  on  Reptiles,  etc.,  in  South  Joggins  Coal  Field,  Journal  of 
Geological  Society  of  London,  vols.  ix.  x.  xi.  xvi.  Remains  of  Ani- 
mals in  Erect  Trees  in  the  Coal  Formation  of  Nova  Scotia,  Trans. 
Royal  Society,  1881.  "Acadian  Gejplogy,"  fourth  edition,  1891.  Re- 
vision of  Land  Snails  of  the  Palaeozoic  Era,  Am.  Journal  of  Science, 
vol.  xx.,  1880.  Supplementary  Report  to  Royal  Society  of  London, 
Proceedings,  1892.  Notice  of  additional  Reptilian  Remains,  Geo- 
logical Magazine  of  London,  1891. 


MARKINGS,  FOOTPRINTS  AND  FUCOIDS. 


DEDICATED  TO  THE  MEMORY   OF  THE   LATE 
DR.    J.   J.   BIGSBY,   F.R.S., 

OF   LONDON, 

THE  PAINSTAKING  AND  ACCURATE  AUTHOR 

OF  THE  THESAURUS  SILURICUS  AND  DEVONICO-CARBONIFERUS, 

A  WARM  AND  KIND  FRIEND  AND  CHRISTIAN  GENTLEMAN 

AND  ONE  OF  THE 
PIONEERS  OF  CANADIAN  GEOLOGY. 


REMINISCENCES  OF  LYELL'S  WORK — TIDAL  FLATS  OF  THE 
BAY  OF  FUNDY — RILL  MARKS  AND  SHRINKAGE  CRACKS 
— WORM  TRAILS  AND  BURROWS— THE  PACES  OF  LIMU- 

LUS— FUCOIDS     VERSUS     TRAILS FOOTPRINTS     OF     VER- 
TEBRATES 


TRACK  OF  LIMULUS. — Modern,  Orchard  Beach. 
Showing  its  resemblance  to.  the  Protichnites  of  the  Cambrian.     (Page  320.) 


CHAPTER  XL 
MARKINGS,   FOOTPRINTS  AND  FUCOIDS. 

I  BELIEVE  my  attention  was  first  directed  to  the  markings 
made  by  animals  on  the  surfaces  of  rocks,  when  travelling 
with  the  late  Sir  Charles  Lyell  in  Nova  Scotia,  in  1842.  He 
noticed  with  the  greatest  interest  the  trails  of  worms,  insects, 
and  various  other  creatures,  and  the  footprints  of  birds  on  the 
surface  of  the  soft  red  tidal  mud  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  and 
subsequently  published  his  notes  on  the  various  markings  in 
these  deposits  in  his  "Travels  in  North  America,"  and  in  a  paper 
presented  to  the  Geological  Society  of  London.  I  well  re- 
member how,  in  walking  along  the  edge  of  the  muddy  shore, 
he  stopped  to  watch  the  efforts  of  a  grasshopper  that  had 
leaped  into  the  soft  ooze,  and  was  painfully  making  a  most 
complicated  trail  in  his  effort  to  escape.  Sir  Charles  re- 
marked that  if  it  had  been  so  fortunate  as  to  make  these 
strange  and  complicated  tracks  on  some  old  formation  now 
hardened  into  stone  and  buried  in  the  earth,  it  might  have 
given  occasion  to  much  learned  discussion. 

At  a  later  period  I  found  myself  perplexed  in  the  study  of 
fossil  plants  by  the  evident  errors  of  many  palaeobotanists  un- 
acquainted with  modern  markings  on  shores,  in  referring  all 
kinds  of  mere  markings  to  the  vegetable  kingdom,  and  espe- 
cially to  the  group  of  fucoids  or  seaweeds,  which  had  become 
a  refuge  for  destitute  objects  not  referable  to  other  kinds  of 
fossils.  It  thus  became  necessary  to  collect  and  study  these 
objects,  as  they  existed  in  rocks  of  different  ages,  and  to  com- 
16 


312  MARKINGS,   FOOTPRINTS   AND   FUCOIDS 

pare  them  with  the  examples  afforded  by  the  modern  beach ; 
and  perhaps  no  locality  could  have  afforded  better  opportuni- 
ties for  this  than  the  immense  tidal  flats  of  the  finest  mud  left 
bare  by  the  great  tides  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy  in  Nova  Scotia. 
At  a  more  recent  period  still,  the  subject  has  come  into  great 
prominence  in  Europe,  and  if  we  are  to  gauge  its  importance 
by  the  magnitude  of  the  costly  illustrated  works  devoted  to  it 
by  Delgado,  Saporta,  Nathorst,  and  others,  and  the  multitude 
of  scattered  papers  in  scientific  periodicals,  we  should  regard 
it  as  one  of  the  most  salient  points  in  Geology.1 

It  may  be  well  further  to  introduce  the  subject  by  a  few 
extracts  from  Lyell's  work  above  referred  to. 

"The  sediment  with  which  the  waters  are  charged  is  ex- 
tremely fine,  being  derived  from  the  destruction  of  cliffs  of  red 
sandstone  and  shale,  belonging  chiefly  to  the  coal  measures. 
On  the  borders  of  even  the  smallest  estuaries  communicating 
with  a  bay,  in  which  the  tides  rise  sixty  feet  and  upwards, 
large  areas  are  laid  dry  for  nearly  a  fortnight  between  the 
spring  and  neap  tides,  and  the  mud  is  then  baked  in  summer 
by  a  hot  sun,  so  that  it  becomes  solidified  and  traversed  by 
cracks  caused  by  shrinkage.  Portions  of  the  hardened  mud 
may  then  be  taken  up  and  removed  without  injury.  On  ex- 
amining the  edges  of  each  slab  we  observe  numerous  layers, 
formed  by  successive  tides,  usually  very  thin,  sometimes  only 
one-tenth  of  an  inch  thick,  of  unequal  thickness,  however, 
because,  according  to  Dr.  Webster,  the  night  tides  rising  a 
foot  higher  than  the  day  tides  throw  down  more  sediment. 
When  a  shower  of  rain  falls,  the  highest  portion  of  the  mud- 
covered  flat  is  usually  too  hard  to  receive  any  impressions ; 
while  that  recently  uncovered  by  the  tide,  near  the  water's 
edge,  is  too  soft.  Between  these  areas  a  zone  occurs  almost 
as  smooth  and  even  as  a  looking-glass,  on  which  every  drop 
forms  a  cavity  of  circular  or  oval  form ;  and  if  the  shower  be 
1  Journal  of  London  Geological  Society,  vol.  vii.  p.  239. 


MARKINGS,    FOOTPRINTS   AND   FUCOIDS          313 

transient,  these  pits  retain  their  shape  permanently,  being  dried 
by  the  sun,  and  being  then  too  firm  to  be  effaced  by  the 
action  of  the  succeeding  tide,  which  deposits  upon  them  a  new 
layer  of  mud.  Hence  we  find,  on  splitting  open  a  slab  an 
inch  or  more  thick,  on  the  upper  surface  of  which  the  marks 
of  recent  rain  occur,  that  an  inferior  layer,  deposited  perhaps 
ten  or  fourteen  tides  previously,  exhibits  on  its  under  surface 
perfect  casts  of  rain  prints  which  stand  out  in  relief,  the  moulds 
of  the  same  being  seen  in  the  layer  below." 

After  mentioning  that  a  continued  shower  of  rain  obliterates 
the  more  regular  impressions,  and  produces  merely  a  blistered 
or  uneven  surface,  and  describing  minutely  the  characteristics 
of  true  rain  marks  in  their  most  perfect  state,  Sir  Charles 
adds  : — 

"  On  some  of  the  specimens  the  winding  tubular  tracks  of 
worms  are  seen,  which  have  been  bored  just  beneath  the 
surface.  Sometimes  the  worms  have  dived  beneath  the  sur- 
face, and  then  re-appeared.  Occasionally  the  same  mud  is 
traversed  by  the  footprints  of  birds  (Tringa  minuta\  and  of 
musk-rats,  minks,  dogs,  sheep  and  cats.  The  leaves  also  of 
the  elm,  maple  and  oak  trees  have  been  scattered  by  the 
winds  over  the  soft  mud,  and  having  been  buried  under  the 
deposits  of  succeeding  tides,  are  found  on  dividing  the  layers. 
When  the  leaves  themselves  are  removed,  very  faithful  im- 
pressions, not  only  of  their  outline,  but  of  their  minutest  veins, 
are  left  imprinted  on  the  clay." 

This  is  a  minor  illustration  of  that  application  of  recent 
causes  to  explain  ancient  effects  of  which  the  great  English 
geologist  was  the  apostle  and  advocate,  and  which  he  so 
admirably  practised  in  his  own  work.  It  is  also  an  illustration 
of  the  fact  that  things  the  most  perishable  and  evanescent 
may,  when  buried  in  the  crust  of  the  earth,  become  its  most 
durable  monuments.  Footprints  in  the  sand  of  the  tidal  shore 
are  in  the  ordinary  course  of  events  certain  to  be  obliterated 


3  H  MARKINGS,   FOOTPRINTS   AND   FUCOIDS 

by  the  next  tide ;  but  when  carefully  filled  up  by  gently  de- 
posited new  material,  and  hardened  into  stone,  there  is  no  limit 
to  their  duration. 

Let  us  inquire  how  this  may  take  place,  and  the  tidal  flats 
of  the  Bay  of  Fundy  and  Basin  of  Minas  may  supply  us  with 
the  information  desired.  In  the  upper  parts  of  the  Bay  of 
Fundy  and  its  estuaries  the  rise  and  fall  of  tide,  as  is  well 
known,  are  excessive.  I  quote  the  following  description  of 
the  appearance  they  present  from  a  work  of  earlier  date  : — 

"The  tide  wave  that  sweeps  to  the  north-east,  along  the 
Atlantic  coast  of  the  United  States,  entering  the  funnel-like 
mouth  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  becomes  compressed  and  elevated, 
as  the  sides  of  the  bay  gradually  approach  each  other,  until  in 
the  narrower  parts  the  water  runs  at  the  rate  of  six  or  seven 
miles  per  hour,  and  the  vertical  rise  of  the  tide  amounts  to 
sixty  feet  or  more.  In  Cobequid  and  Chiegnecto  Bays  these 
tides,  to  an  unaccustomed  spectator,  have  rather  the  aspect  of 
some  rare  convulsion  of  nature  than  of  an  ordinary  daily 
phenomenon.  At  low  tide  wide  flats  of  brown  mud  are  seen 
to  extend  for  miles,  as  if  the  sea  had  altogether  retired  from 
its  bed ;  and  the  distant  channel  appears  as  a  mere  strip  of 
muddy  water.  At  the  commencement  of  flood  a  slight  ripple 
is  seen  to  break  over  the  edge  of  the  flats.  It  rushes  swiftly 
forward,  and,  covering  the  lower  flats  almost  instantaneously, 
gains  rapidly  on  the  higher  swells  of  mud,  which  appear  as  if 
they  were  being  dissolved  in  the  turbid  waters.  At  the  same 
time  the  torrent  of  red  water  enters  all  the  channels,  creeks 
and  estuaries  ;  surging,  whirling,  and  foaming,  and  often  having 
in  its  front  a  white,  breaking  wave,  or  '  bore,'  which  runs 
steadily  forward,  meeting  and  swallowing  up  the  remains  of 
the  ebb  still  trickling  down  the  channels.  The  mud  flats  are 
soon  covered;  and  then,  as  the  stranger  sees  the  water  gaining 
with  noiseless  and  steady  rapidity  on  the  steep  sides  of  banks 
and  cliffs,  a  sense  of  insecurity  creeps  over  him,  as  if  no  limit 


MARKINGS,   FOOTPRINTS   AND   FUCOIDS          315 

could  be  set  to  the  advancing  deluge.  In  a  little  time,  how- 
ever, he  sees  that  the  fiat,  '  Hitherto  shalt  thou  come,  and  no 
farther,'  has  been  issued  to  the  great  bay  tide  :  its  retreat  com- 
mences, and  the  waters  rush  back  as  rapidly  as  they  entered. 

"  The  rising  tide  sweeps  away  the  fine  material  from  every 
exposed  bank  and  cliff,  and  becomes  loaded  with  mud  and 
extremely  fine  sand,  which,  as  it  stagnates  at  high  water,  it 
deposits  in  a  thin  layer  on  the  surface  of  the  flats.  This  layer, 
which  may  vary  in  thickness  from  a  quarter  of  an  inch  to  a 
quarter  of  a  line,  is  coarser  and  thicker  at  the  outer  edge  of 
the  flats  than  nearer  the  shore ;  and  hence  these  flats,  as  well 
as  the  marshes,  are  usually  higher  near  the  channels  than  at 
their  inner  edge.  From  the  same  cause, — the  more  rapid  de- 
position of  the  coarser  sediment, — the  lower  side  of  each  layer 
is  arenaceous,  and  sometimes  dotted  over  with  films  of  mica, 
while  the  upper  side  is  fine  and  slimy,  and  when  dry  has  a 
shining  and  polished  surface.  The  falling  tide  has  little  effect 
on  these  deposits,  and  hence  the  gradual  growth  of  the  flats, 
until  they  reach  such  a  height  that  they  can  be  overflowed  only 
by  the  high  spring  tides.  They  then  become  natural  or  salt 
marsh,  covered  with  the  coarse  grasses  and  carices  which  grow 
in  such  places.  So  far  the  process  is  carried  on  by  the  hand 
of  nature ;  and  before  the  colonization  of  Nova  Scotia,  there 
were  large  tracts  of  this  grassy  alluvium  to  excite  the  wonder 
and  delight  of  the  first  settlers  on  the  shores  of  the  Bay  of 
Fundy.  Man,  however,  carries  the  land  -  making  process 
farther ;  and  by  diking  and  draining,  excludes  the  sea  water, 
and  produces  a  soil  capable  of  yielding  for  an  indefinite  period, 
without  manure,  the  most  valuable  cultivated  grains  and 
grasses." 

The  mud  of  these  great  tidal  flats  is  at  the  surface  of  a  red 
colour,  and  so  fine  that  when  the  tide  leaves  it  and  its  surface 
becomes  dry,  it  shines  in  the  sun  as  if  polished.  It  is  thus 
capable  of  taking  the  finest  impressions.  When  the  tide  is  in, 


316  MARKINGS,   FOOTPRINTS   AND   FUCOIDS 

numerous  small  fish  of  various  species  occupy  the  ground  and 
may  leave  marks  of  their  fins  and  tails  as  they  gambol  or  seek 
their  food.  Shell  fishes,  worms,  and  Crustaceans  scramble 
over  the  same  surface,  or  make  burrows  in  it.  As  the  tide 
recedes  flocks  of  sandpipers  and  crows  follow  it  down,  and 
leave  an  infinity  of  footprints,  and  even  quadrupeds  like  the 
domestic  hog  go  far  out  at  low  water  in  search  of  food.  It  is 
said  that  in  some  parts  of  the  Bay  the  hogs  are  so  assiduous 
in  this  pursuit  that  they  even  awake  and  go  out  on  the  flats  in 
the  night  tide,  and  that  they  have  so  learned  to  dread  the 
dangers  of  the  flood,  that  when  in  the  darkness  they  hear  the 
dull  sound  of  the  approaching  bore,  they  squeal  with  fear  and 
rush  madly  for  the  shore. 

If  we  examine  it  minutely,  we  shall  find  that  the  tidal  de- 
posit is  laminated.  The  tidal  water  is  red  and  muddy,  and 
holds  in  suspension  sediment  of  various  degrees  of  coarseness. 
This,  undergoes  a  certain  process  of  levigation.  In  the  first 
run  of  the  flood  the  coarser  material  falls  to  the  bottom.  As 
its  force  diminishes  the  finer  material  is  deposited,  and  at  full 
tide,  when  the  current  has  ceased,  the  finest  of  all  settles, 
forming  a  delicate  coat  of  the  purest  and  most  tenacious  clay. 
Thus,  if  a  block  of  the  material  is  taken  up  and  allowed  to 
dry,  it  tends  to  separate  into  thin  laminae,  each  of  which  re- 
presents a  tide,  and  is  somewhat  sandy  below,  and  passes  into 
the  finest  moulding  clay  above.  The  tracks  and  impressions 
preserved  are  naturally  made  on  the  last  or  finest  deposit,  and 
filled  in  with  the  coarser  or  more  sandy  of  the  next  tide.  But 
this  may  take  place  in  -  different  ways.  Impressions  made 
under  water  at  flood  tide,  or  on  the  surface  left  bare  by  the 
ebb,  may  in  favourable  localities  be  sufficiently  tenacious  or 
firm  to  resist  the  abrading  action  of  the  flood,  and  may  thus 
be  covered  and  preserved  by  the  next  layer,  and  in  this  way 
they  may  be  seen  on  splitting  up  a  block  of  the  dried  mud. 
But  in  shallow  places  and  near  the  shore,  where  the  deposit 


MARKINGS,   FOOTPRINTS   AND   FUCOIDS          317 

has  time  to  consolidate  and  become  dried  by  the  sun  and  air 
before  the  next  tide,  much  better  impressions  are  preserved ; 
and  lastly,  on  those  parts  of  the  shore  which  are  reached  only 
by  the  spring  tides,  the  mud  of  the  highest  tide  of  course  may 
have  several  days  to  harden  before  the  next  tide  reaches  it, 
and  in  this  case  it  becomes  cracked  by  an  infinity  of  shrinkage 
cracks,  which,  when  it  is  next  covered  with  the  tide,  are  filled 
with  new  sediment.  In  this  way  is  produced  in  great  perfec- 
tion that  combination  of  footprints,  or  even  of  impressions  of 
rain,  with  casts  of  cracks,  which  is  so  often  seen  in  the  older 
rocks.  Where  on  the  sides  of  channels  or  near  the  shore  the 
mud  has  a  considerable  slope,  another  and  very  curious  effect 
results.  As  the  tide  ebbs  the  water  drains  off  the  surface,  or 
oozing  out  of  the  wet  sand  and  mud,  forms  at  the  top  of  the 
bank  minute  grooves  often  no  larger  than  fine  threads.  These 
coalesce  and  form  small  channels,  and  these,  again,  larger  ones, 
till  at  low  tide  the  whole  sloping  surface  is  seen  to  be  covered 
with  a  smooth  and  beautiful  tracery  resembling  the  rivers  on 
a  map,  or  the  impressions  of  the  trunks  and  branches  of  trees, 
or  the  fronds  of  gigantic  seaweeds.  These  "  rill  marks,"  as 
they  have  been  called,  are  found  in  great  abundance  in  the 
coal  formation  and  triassic  sandstones  and  shales,  and  I  am 
sorry  to  say,  have  often  been  named  and  described  as  Fucoids, 
and  illustrated  by  sumptuous  plates.  Sometimes  these  im- 
pressions are  so  fine  as  to  resemble  the  venation  of  leaves, 
sometimes  so  large  as  to  simulate  trees,  and  I  have  even  seen 
them  complicated  with  shrinkage  cracks,  the  edges  of  which 
were  minutely  crenulated  by  little  rills  running  into  them  from 
the  surface. 

It  is  further  to  be  noticed  that  all  these  markings  and  im- 
pressions on  tidal  shores  may,  when  covered  by  succeeding 
deposits,  appear  either  in  intaglio  or  relief.  On  the  upper 
surface  they  are  of  course  sunken,  but  on  the  lower  surface  of 
the  bed  deposited  on  them  they  are  in  relief.  It  often  happens 


318  MARKINGS,   FOOTPRINTS   AND   FUCOIDS 

also  that  these  casts  in  relief  are  the  best  preserved.  This 
arises  from  the  fact  that  the  original  moulds  or  impressions 
are  usually  made  in  clay,  whereas  the  filling  material  is  sandy, 
and  the  latter,  infiltrated  with  calcareous  or  siliceous  matter, 
may  become  a  hard  sandstone,  while  the  clay  may  remain  a 
comparatively  soft  shale.  This  tendency  of  casts  rather  than 
of  moulds  to  be  preserved  sometimes  produces  puzzling  effects. 
A  cylindrical  or  branching  trail  thus  often  assumes  the  appear- 
ance of  a  stem,  and  any  pits  or  marginal  impressions  assume 
the  form  of  projections  or  leaves,  and  thus  a  trail  of  a  worm 
or  Gastropod  or  a  rill  mark  may  easily  simulate  a  plant.  It  is 
to  be  observed,  however,  that  these  prominent  casts  are  on 
the  under  side  of  the  beds,  that  their  material  is  continuous 
with  that  of  the  beds  to  which  they  belong,  and  that  they  are 
destitute  of  any  carbonaceous  matter.  There  are,  however, 
cases  where  markings  may  be  in  relief,  even  on  the  upper 
surfaces  of  beds.  The  following  are  illustrations  of  this.  Just 
as  a  man  walking  in  newly  fallen  snow  compresses  it  under  his 
feet,  and  if  the  snow  be  afterwards  drifted  away  or  melted 
away  by  the  sun,  the  compressed  part  resists  longest,  and  may 
appear  as  a  raised  footmark,  so  tracks  made  on  soft  material 
may  consolidate  it  so  that  if  the  soft  mud  be  afterwards  washed 
away  the  tracks  may  remain  projecting.  Again,  worms  eject 
earthy  matter  from  their  burrows,  forming  mounds,  patches  or 
raised  ridges  of  various  forms  on  the  surface,  and  some  animals 
burrow  immediately  under  the  surface,  pushing  up  the  mud 
over  them  into  a  ridge,  while  others  pile  up  over  their  bodies 
pellets  of  clay,  forming  an  archway  or  tunnel  as  they  go. 
Zeiller  has  shown  that  the  mole  cricket  forms  curious  roofed 
trails  of  this  kind,  and  it  seems  certain  that  Crustaceans  and 
marine  worms  of  different  kinds  execute  similar  works,  and 
that  their  roofed  burrows,  either  entire  or  fallen  in,  produce 
curious  imitations  of  branches  of  plants. 

The  great  and  multiform  army  of  the  sea  worms  is  indeed 


MARKINGS,   FOOTPRINTS    AND   FUCOIDS          319 

the  most  prolific  source  of  markings  on  sea-formed  rocks. 
Sometimes  they  cover  very  large  surfaces  of  these,  or  penetrate 
the  beds  as  perforations,  with  tortuous  furrows,  or  holes  per- 
fectly simple,  or  marked  with  little  striae  made  by  bristles  or 
minute  feet,  sometimes  with  a  fringe  of  little  footmarks  a 
each  side,  sometimes  with  transverse  furrows  indicating  the 
joints  of  the  animal's  body.  Multitudes  of  these  markings 
have  been  described  and  named  either  as  plants  or  as  worm- 
tracks.  Again,  these  creatures  execute  subterranean  burrows, 
sometimes  vertical,  sometimes  tortuous.  These  are  often 
mere  cylindrical  holes  afterwards  filled  with  sand,  but  some- 
times they  have  been  lined  with  a  membranous  tube,  or  with 
the  rejectamenta  of  the  food  of  the  animals,  or  with  little 
fragments  of  organic  matter  cemented  together.  Sometimes 
they  open  on  the  surface  as  simple  apertures,  but  again  they 
may  be  surrounded  with  heaps  of  castings,  sometimes  spiral 
in  form,  or  with  dumps  of  sand  produced  in  their  excavation, 
and  which  may  assume  various  forms,  according  to  circum- 
stances. Sometimes  the  aperture  is  double,  so  that  they  seem 
to  be  in  pairs.  Sometimes,  for  the  convenience  of  the  animal, 
the  aperture  is  widened  into  the  form  of  a  funnel,  and  some- 
times the  creature,  by  extending  its  body  and  drawing  it  in, 
surrounds  its  burrow  with  a  series  of  radiating  tracks  simulat- 
ing the  form  of  a  starfish  or  sea  anemone,  or  of  the  diverging 
branches  of  a  plant. 

Creatures  of  higher  grade,  provided  with  jointed  limbs, 
naturally  make  their  actions  known  in  more  complicated  ways. 
Some  years  ago  I  had  the  pleasure  of  spending  a  few  weeks 
at  the  favourite  sea-side  resort  of  Orchard  Beach  on  the  New 
England  coast,  and  there  made  my  first  acquaintance  with  that 
very  ancient  and  curious  creature  the  Limulus,  or  Horse-shoe 
Crab,  or  King-crab,  as  it  is  sometimes  called.  Orchard  Beach 
is,  I  presume,  near  its  northern  range  on  our  coast,  and  the 
specimens  seen  were  not  very  large  in  size,  though  by  no  means 
1 6* 


32O  MARKINGS,   FOOTPRINTS   AND   FUCOIDS 

rare,  and  not  infrequently  cast  on  shore  in  storms.  But  the 
best  facilities  for  studying  their  habits  were  found  in  a  marsh 
at  no  great  distance  from  the  hotel,  where  there  were  numerous 
channels,  ditches  and  little  ponds  filled  with  sea  water  at  high 
tide.  In  these  were  multitudes  of  young  Limuli,  varying  from 
an  inch  to  three  or  four  inches  in  breadth,  and  though  many 
were  dead  or  merely  cast  shells,  it  was  easy  to  take  young 
specimens  with  a  landing  net.  A  number  of  these  were  se- 
cured, and  I  made  it  my  business  for  some  time  to  study  their 
habits  and  mode  of  life,  and  especially  the  tracks  which  they 
made  in  sand  or  mud. 

The  King-crab,  viewed  from  above,  consists  of  three  parts. 
The  anterior  shield  or  carapace  is  semi-circular  in  form,  with 
two  spines  or  projecting  points  at  the  angles,  raised  in  the 
middle  and  sloping  down  to  a  smooth  or  moderately  sharp 
edge  in  front.  The  eyes  are  set  like  windows  in  this  shield. 
Two  large  ones  at  the  sides,  which  are  compound  eyes  con- 
sisting of  numerous  ocelli  or  little  eyes,  and  two  microscopic 
ones  in  front,  at  the  base  of  a  little  spine,  which  are  simple. 
The  second  or  abdominal  part  is  also  in  one  piece,  somewhat 
quadrate  in  form,  with  ridges  and  serratures  at  the  sides  armed 
with  spines,  and  which  may  be  said  to  simulate  the  separate 
joints  into  which  the  abdomen  of  an  ordinary  Crustacean  is 
divided.  The  third  part  is  a  long  tail  spine,  triangular  in  cross 
section,  sharply  pointed,  and  so  jointed  to  the  posterior  end 
of  the  abdomen  that  it  can  be  freely  moved  in  any  direction 
as  a  bayonet-like  weapon  of  defence.  When  unable  to  escape 
from  an  enemy  it  is  the  habit  of  the  creature  to  double  itself 
up  by  bending  the  abdomen  against  the  carapace,  and  erecting 
the  sharp  spine.  Thus,  with  fixed  bayonet  it  awaits  attack, 
like  the  kneeling  soldier  in  front  of  a  square. 

Below  this  upper  shield,  which  is  thin  and  papery  in  the 
young,  somewhat  horny  in  the  adult,  are  the  numerous  limbs 
of  the  creature,  with  which  we  are  at  present  most  concerned. 


MARKINGS,   FOOTPRINTS,   AND   FUCOIDS  321 

Under  the  carapace  are  several  pairs  of  jointed  limbs  differing 
in  size  and  form.  The  two  anterior  are  small  and  peculiarly 
formed  claws,  used  apparently  in  manipulating  the  food.  The 
four  next  are  larger  in  size,  and  are  walking  feet,  each  furnished 
with  two  sharp  points  which  form  a  pincer  for  holding.  The 
last  pair  is  much  larger  and  stronger  than  any  of  the  others,  and 
armed  not  only  with  a  pair  of  pincers,  but  with  four  blunt  nail- 
like  points.  Under  the  abdomen  are  flat  swimming  feet,  as  they 
have  been  called,  each  composed  of  a  broad  plate  notched  and 
divided  in  the  middle.  When  at  rest  these  lie  flat  on  each 
other,  but  they  can  be  flapped  back  and  forth  at  the  will  of  the 
animal. 

Let  us  now  see  what  use  the  creature  can  make  of  these 
numerous  and  varied  pedal  appendages,  and  for  distinctness' 
sake  we  shall  call  the  anterior  set  thoracic  and  the  posterior 
abdominal.  When  placed  in  shallow  water  on  fine  sand  it 
walked  slowly  forward,  and  its  tracks  then  consisted  of  a 
number  of  punctures  on  the  sand  in  two  lines.  If,  however,  the 
water  was  very  shallow  or  the  sand  very  soft  or  inclined  upward 
the  two  edges  of  the  carapace  touched  the  bottom,  making  a 
slight  furrow  at  each  side  ;  and  if  the  tail  was  trailed  on  the 
bottom,  this  made  a  third  or  central  furrow.  When  climbing  a 
slope,  or  when  placed  at  the  edge  of  the  water,  it  adopted 
another  mode  of  locomotion,  pushing  with  great  force  with  its 
two  posterior  limbs,  and  thus  moving  forward  by  jerks.  It 
then  made  four  deep  marks  with  the  toes  of  each  hind  limb, 
and  more  or  less  interrupted  marks  with  the  edges  of  the  cara- 
pace and  the  tail.  In  these  circumstances  the  marks  were  al- 
most exactly  like  those  of  some  forms  of  the  Protichnites  of  the 
Potsdam  sandstone.  When  in  sufficiently  deep  water  and  de- 
sirous to  escape,  it  flapped  its  abdominal  feet,  and  then  swam 
or  glided  close  to  the  bottom.  In  this  case,  when  moving  near 
the  soft  bottom,  it  produced  a  series  of  transverse  ridges  and 
furrows  like  small  ripple  marks,  with  a  slight  ridge  in  the  middle, 


322  MARKINGS,   FOOTPRINTS   AND   FUCOIDS 

and  sometimes,  when  the  edges  of  the  carapace  touched  the 
bottom,  with  lateral  furrows.  In  this  way  the  animals  were 
able  to  swim  with  some  ease  and  rapidity,  and  on  one  occasion 
I  observed  an  individual,  confined  in  a  tub  of  water,  raise  itself 
from  the  bottom  and  swim  around  the  tub  at  the  surface  in 
search  of  a  way  of  escape.  Lastly,  the  young  Limuli  were  fond 
of  hiding  themselves  by  burrowing  in  the  sand.  They  did  this 
by  pushing  the  anterior  rounded  end  of  the  carapace  under  the 
sand,  and  then  vigorously  shovelling  out  the  material  from  below 
with  their  feet,  so  that  they  gradually  sank  under  the  surface, 
and  the  sand  flowed  in  upon  them  till  they  were  entirely  covered. 
If  carefully  removed  from  the  hollow  they  had  made,  this  was 
found  to  be  ovoid  or  hoof  shaped  in  form  and  bilobed,  not  un- 
like the  curious  hollows  {Rusophycus  Grenvillensis  of  Billings) 
which  I  have  supposed  to  be  burrows  of  Trilobites. 

I  thus  found  that  the  common  King-crab  could  produce  a 
considerable  variety  of  tracks  and  burrows  comparable  with 
those  which  have  been  named  Protichnites,  Climactichnites, 
Bilobites,  Cruziana,  Rusichnites,  etc.  ;  and  that  the  kind  of 
markings  depended  partly  on  the  differences  of  gait  in  the 
animal,  and  partly  on  the  circumstances  in  which  it  was  placed  ; 
so  that  different  kinds  of  tracks  do  not  always  prove  diversity 
in  the  animals  producing  them. 

The  interest  of  this  investigation  as  applied  to  Limulus  is 
increased  by  the  fact  that  this  creature  is  the  near  ally  of 
Trilobites,  Eurypterids  and  other  Crustaceans  which  were 
abundant  in  the  earlier  geological  ages,  and  whose  footprints 
are  probably  among  the  most  common  we  find  on  the  rocks. 

Lastly,  on  this  part  of  the  subject,  it  is  to  be  observed  that 
many  other  marine  animals,  both  crustaceans  and  worms,  make 
impressions  resembling  in  general  character  those  of  Limulus. 
In  addition  to  those  already  mentioned,  Nathorst  and  Bureau 
have  shown  that  various  kinds  of  shrimps  and  lobster-like 
Crustaceans,  when  swimming  rapidly  by  successive  strokes  of 


RUSICHNITES  GRENVII.LENSIS,  Billings — a  "  Bilobite. 
Probably  the  Cast  of  a  Crustacean  burrow. 


MARKINGS,   FOOTPRINTS   AND   FUCOIDS  323 

the  tail,  make  double  furrows  with  transverse  ridges  resembling 
those  of  Bilobites,  and  there  are  even  some  mollusks  which  by 
the  undulations  of  the  foot  or  the  hook-like  action  of  its  an- 
terior part,  can  make  similar  trails.  A  question  arises  here  as 
to  the  value  of  such  things  as  fossils.  This  depends  on  the  fact 
that  many  creatures  have  left  their  marks  on  the  rocks  when 
still  soft  on  the  sea  bottom,  of  which  we  have  no  other  indica- 
tions, and  it  also  depends  on  our  ability  to  understand  the 
import  of  these  unconscious  hieroglyphics.  They  will  certainly 
be  of  little  use  to  us  so  long  as  we  persist  in  regarding  them  as 
vegetable  forms,  and  until  we  have  very  carefully  studied  all 
kinds  of  modern  markings.1  Nor  does  it  seern  of  much  use  to 
assign  to  them  specific  names.  The  same  trail  often  changes 
from  one  so-called  species,  or  even  genus,  to  another  in  tracing 
it  along,  and  the  same  animal  may  in  different  circumstances 
make  very  different  kinds  of  tracks.  There  will  eventually, 
perhaps,  arise  some  general  kind  of  nomenclature  for  these 
markings  under  a  separate  sub-science  of  Ichnology  or  the  doc- 
trine of  Footprints. 

I  have  said  nothing  of  true  Algae  or  seaweeds,  of  which  there 
are  many  fossil  species  known  to  us  by  their  forms,  and  also 
by  the  carbonaceous  or  pyritous  matter,  or  discharge  of  colour 
from  the  matrix,  which  furnishes  evidence  of  the  presence 
of  organic  material ;  nor  of  the  marks  and  trails  left  by  sea- 
weeds and  land  plants  drifting  in  currents,  some  of  which  are 
very  curious  and  fantastic ;  nor  of  those  singular  trails  referred 
to  the  arms  of  cuttlefishes  and  the  fins  of  fishes,  or  to  sea 
jellies  and  starfishes.  These  might  form  materials  for  a 
treatise.  My  object  here  is  merely  to  indicate  the  mode  of 
dealing  with  such  things,  and  the  kind  of  information  to  be 
derived  from  them. 

When  we  come  to  the  consideration  of  actual  footprints  of 

1  Geologists  are  greatly  indebted  to  Dr.  Nathorst  of  Stockholm  for  his 
painstaking  researches  of  this  kind. 


324  MARKINGS,    FOOTPRINTS   AND   FUCOIDS 

vertebrate  animals  having  limbs,  the  information  we  can  obtain 
is  of  a  far  more  definite  character.  This  has  already  been  re- 
ferred to  in  treating  of  the  first  Air-breathers  in  a  previous 
chapter.  One  very  curious  example  we  may  close  with.  It  is 
that  of  the  celebrated  "  bird  tracks  "  of  the  sandstone  quarries 
in  the  Trias  of  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts.  These  tracks, 
of  immense  size,  as  much  as  eighteen  inches  in  length,  and  so 
arranged  as  to  indicate  the  stride  of  a  long-legged  biped,  were 
naturally  referred  to  gigantic  birds,  allied  to  modern  waders. 
But  when  it  was  found  that  some  of  them  showed  a  central 
furrow  indicating  a  long  tail  trailing  behind,  this  conclusion  was 
shaken,  and  when  in  tracing  them  along,  places  were  found 
where  the  animal  had  sat  down  on  its  haunches  and  the  end  of 
its  tail,  and  had  brought  down  to  the  ground  a  pair  of  small  fore 
feet  with  four  or  five  fingers,  it  was  discovered  that  we  had  to 
deal  with  biped  reptiles ;  and  when  the  tracks  were  correlated 
with  the  bones  of  the  extinct  reptiles  known  as  Dinosaurs,  we 
found  ourselves  in  the  presence  of  a  group  of  the  most  strange 
and  portentous  reptilian  forms  that  the  earth  has  ever  known. 
Marsh  has  been  enabled,  by  nearly  perfect  skeletons  of  some 
allied  reptilian  bipeds  found  in  the  West,  to  reproduce  them 
in  their  exact  forms  and  proportions,  so  that  we  can  realize  in 
imagination  their  aspect,  their  gait,  and  their  gigantic  propor- 
tions. Examples  of  this  putting  together  of  footprints  and 
osseous  remains  of  vertebrate  animals  are  not  rare  in  the 
history  of  geology,  and  show  us  how  the  monsters  of  the 
ancient  world,  equally  with  their  human  successors,  could  leave 
"  footprints  on  the  sands  of  time." 

The  Dinosaurs  which  have  left  their  footprints  on  the  sand- 
stones of  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts  are,  however,  greatly 
more  numerous  than  those  known  to  us  by  osseous  remains. 
Thus  footprints  have  the  further  use  of  filling  up  the  imperfec- 
tions of  our  geological  record,  or  at  least  of  pointing  out  gaps 
which  but  for  them  we  might  not  have  suspected.  The  re- 


MARKINGS,    FOOTPRINTS   AND   FUCOIDS  325 

markable  inferences  of  Matthew  already  referred  to,  respecting 
cuttlefishes  in  the  Cambrian  period,  constitute  a  case  in  point. 
Footprints  of  Batrachians  in  the  Carboniferous  rocks  were  known 
before  their  bones.  The  strange  hand-like  tracks  in  the  Trias 
were  known  before  we  knew  the  Labyrinthodon  that  produced 
them.  We  are  still  ignorant  of  the  animals  whose  tracks  in  the 
old  Potsdam  sandstones  we  name  Protichnites. 

REFERENCES  : — On  Rusichnites  (a  form  of  Bilobite),  Canadian  Naturalist, 
1864.  On  Footprints  of  Limulus  compared  with  Protichnites,  etc. 
Ibid.  On  Footprints  and  Impressions  of  Aquatic  Animals  and  Imita- 
tive Markings,  Amer.  Journal  of  Science,  1873.  C*n  Burrows  and 
Tracks  of  Invertebrate  Animals,  Quarterly  Journal  of  Geological 
Society,  1890.  On  Footprints  of  Carboniferous  Batrachians.  "  Acadian 
Geology,"  "  Air-breathers  of  the  Coal  Period,"  etc. 


PRE-DETERMINATION  IN  NATURE. 


DEDICATED   TO   THE   MEMORY   OF 

ELKANAH    BILLINGS, 

FIRST  PALEONTOLOGIST  OF 

THE  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY  OF  CANADA, 

WHO  LAID  THE  FOUNDATIONS  OF  OUR  KNOWLEDGE 

OF  THE  INVERTEBRATE  FOSSILS  OF  CANADA. 


FIXITY  OF  LAWS  AND  PROPERTIES  OF  ENERGY  AND  MATTER 
— PERMANENCE  OF  CONTINENTS  AND  OCEANS  —  THE 
PERMANENT  AND  THE  CHANGEABLE  -  PERMANENCE  OF 
ANIMAL  AND  VEGETABLE  FORMS  AND  STRUCTURES  — 
PRINCIPLES  OF  CONSTRUCTION  IN  THE  PARTS  OF  TRILO- 
BITES — IN  THE  SKELETONS  OF  SPONGES  —  IN  EARLY 
VERTEBRATES  —  IN  PLANTS  —  LAWS  OF  FIXITY  AND 
DIVERSITY 


+V+ 


RESTORATION  OF  PROTOSPONGIA  TETRANEMA.— Quebec  group; 
Siluru-Cambrian,  Little  Metis  (p.  335). 


CHAPTER  XII. 
PRE-DETERMINATION  IN  NATURE. 

THE  natural  prejudice  of  persons  not  acquainted  with 
geology  is  that  in  the  world  all  things  continue  as  they 
were  from  the  beginning.  But  a  little  observation  and  experi- 
ence dispels  this  delusion,  and  perhaps  replaces  it  with  an 
opposite  error.  When  our  minds  have  been  familiarized  with 
the  continuous  processes  by  which  vaporous  nebulae  may  be 
differentiated  into  distinct  planets,  and  these  may  be  slowly 
cooled  from  an  incandescent  state  till  their  surfaces  become 
resolved  into  areas  of  land  and  water ;  and  still  more,  when 
we  contemplate  the  grand  procession  of  forms  of  life  from  the 
earliest  animals  and  plants  to  man  and  his  contemporaries,  we 
become  converts  to  the  doctrine  that  all  things  are  in  a  per- 
petual flux,  and  that  every  succeeding  day  sees  them  different 
from  what  they  were  the  day  before.  In  this  state  of  mind  the 
scientific  student  is  apt  to  overlook  the  fact  that  there  are 
many  things  which  remain  the  same  through  all  the  ages,  or 
which,  once  settled,  admit  of  no  change.  I  do  not  here  refer 
to  those  fundamental  properties  of  matter  and  forces  and  laws 
of  nature  which  form  the  basis  of  uniformitarianism  in  geology, 
but  to  determinations  and  arrangements  which  might  easily 
have  been  quite  different  from  what  they  are,  but  which,  once 
settled,  seem  to  remain  for  ever. 

We  have  already  considered  the  great  fact  that  the  nuclei 
and  ribs  of  the  continental  masses  were  laid  down  as  foundations 
in  the  earliest  periods,  and  have  been  built  upon  by  determi- 


330  PRE-DETERMINATION    IN   NATURE 

nate  additions,  more  especially  upon  their  edges  and  their 
hollows,  so  that  while  there  has  been  a  constant  process  of 
removal  of  material  from  the  higher  parts  of  the  land,  and 
deposition  in  the  sea,  and  while  there  have  been  periodical 
elevations  and  subsidences,  the  great  areas  of  land  and  water 
have  remained  substantially  the  same,  and  the  main  lines  of 
elevation  and  folding  have  conformed  to  the  directions  origin- 
ally fixed.  Thus,  in  regard  to  the  dry  land  itself,  there  has 
been  fixity,  on  the  one  hand,  and  mutation  on  the  other,  of  a 
most  paradoxical  aspect,  till  we  understand  something  of  the 
great  law  of  constant  change  united  with  perennial  fixity  in 
nature.  From  want  of  attention  to  this,  the  permanence  of 
continents  is  still  a  debated  question,  and  it  is  difficult  for 
many  to  understand  how  the  frequent  dips  of  the  continental 
plateaus  and  margins  under  the  sea,  and  their  re-elevation, 
often  along  with  portions  of  the  shallower  sea  bottom,  can  be 
consistent  with  a  general  permanence  of  the  position  of  the 
continents  and  of  the  corresponding  ocean  abysses  ;  yet,  when 
this  is  properly  understood,  it  becomes  plain  that  the  union 
of  fixity  with  changes  of  level  has  been  a  main  cause  of  the 
continuity  and  changes  of  organic  beings.  Only  the  submerg- 
ence of  inland  plateaus  under  shallow  and  warm  waters 
could  have  given  scope  for  the  introduction  of  new  marine 
faunas,  and  only  re-elevation  could  have  permitted  the  greatest 
extension  of  plants  and  animals  of  the  land.  Thus,  the  con- 
tinuity of  life  with  continual  advance  has  depended  on  the 
permanent  existence  of  continental  and  oceanic  areas ;  and 
the  continents  that  remain  to  us  with  all  their  diversity  of 
elevation  and  outline,  their  varied  productions,  both  mineral 
and  organic,  and  their  life,  which  is  a  select  remainder  of  all 
that  went  before,  have  been  produced  and  furnished  by  a 
succession  of  changes,  modified  by  the  most  conservative 
retention  of  general  arrangements  and  forms. 

It  is  evident,  however,  that  it  is  not  merely  permanence  we 


PRE-DETERMINATION   IN    NATURE  33! 

have  to  deal  with  here,  but  permanence  of  position  along  with 
change  of  elevation ;  and  this  modified  by  the  fact  that  there 
have  always  been  mountain  ridges,  internal  plateaus,  and  mar- 
ginal areas  affected  in  various  ways  by  the  vertical  movement 
of  the  land.  Further,  the  elevation  and  subsidence  of  the  land 
have  not  always  been  uniform,  but  often  differential,  while  every 
movement  has  tended  to  produce  modifications  of  ocean  cur- 
rents and  of  atmospheric  conditions.  The  whole  subject,  more 
especially  in  its  relations  to  life,  thus  becomes  very  complicated, 
and  it  is  perhaps  in  consequence  of  partial  and  imperfect  views 
on  these  points  that  so  much  diversity  of  opinion  has  arisen. 
For  example,  it  is  evident  that  we  can  gain  nothing  by  adding 
to  the  continents  those  submerged  margins  delineated  by 
Murray  in  the  Challenger  reports,  and  which  have  in  periods  of 
continental  elevation  themselves  formed  portions  of  the  land. 
Nor  do  we  establish  a  case  in  favour  of  perished  oceanic  conti- 
nents by  the  argument  that  they  are  needed  to  furnish  the 
materials  of  marginal  mountains  which  are  due  to  the  con- 
tinuous sweeping  of  arctic  material  to  the  south  by  currents,  as 
we  see  in  the  coast  of  North  America  to-day.  Nor  do  we  in- 
validate the  permanence  of  the  continents  by  the  bridges  of 
land,  islands,  and  shallow  water  at  various  times  thrown  across 
the  Atlantic.  The  distribution  of  Cambrian  Trilobites,  as  illus- 
trated by  Matthew,1  seems  to  show  a  bridge  of  this  kind  in  the 
north  in  very  early  times,  and  similar  evidence  is  furnished  by 
the  animals  and  plants  of  the  Devonian  and  Carboniferous, 
and  by  the  sea  animals  and  plants  of  the  later  Tertiary  and 
modern.  Gardener  has  postulated  a  southern  bridge  in  the 
region  of  the  West  Indies  for  the  migrations  of  plants,  and 
Gregory  has  adduced  the  evidence  of  those  conservative  and 
slow-moving  creatures,  the  sea  urchins,  in  favour  of  similar  con- 
nection in  the  West  Indian  region  at  two  distinct  periods  of 
time  (the  Lower  Cretaceous  and  the  Miocene  Tertiary).  But 
1  Transactions  Royal  Society  of  Canada,  1892. 


332  PRE-DETERMINATION   IN    NATURE 

bridges  do  not  involve  want  of  permanence  in  their  termini. 
Because  an  engineer  has  bridged  the  Firth  of  Forth,  it  does  not 
follow  that  the  banks  of  this  inlet  did  not  exist  before  the 
bridge  was  built ;  and  if  the  bridge  were  to  perish,  the  evidence 
that  trains  had  once  passed  that  way  would  not  justify  the 
belief  that  the  bed  of  the  Firth  had  been  dry  land,  and  the 
areas  north  and  south  of  it  depressed.  The  more  we  consider 
this  question  the  more  we  see  that  the  permanence,  growth 
and  sculpture  of  the  continents  are  parts  of  a  great  continuous 
and  far-reaching  plan.  This  view  is  strengthened  rather  than 
otherwise,  when  we  consider  the  probable  manner  in  which  the 
enormous  weight  of  the  continents  is  sustained  above  the 
waters.  We  may  attribute  this,  on  the  one  hand,  to  rigidity  and 
lateral  arching  and  compression,  or,  on  the  other,  to  what  may 
be  termed  flotation  of  the  lighter  parts  of  the  crust ;  and  there 
seems  to  be  little  doubt  that  both  of  these  principles  have  been 
employed  in  constructing  the  "pillars  which  support  the  earth." 
It  is  evident,  however,  that  an  arch  thrown  over  the  internal 
abyss  of  the  earth,  or  a  portion  of  its  crust  so  lightened  as  to  be 
pressed  upward  by  its  heavier  surroundings,  must,  when  once 
established,  have  become  a  permanent  feature  of  the  earth's 
foundations,  not  to  be  disturbed  without  calamitous  conse- 
quences to  its  inhabitants. 

It  is  the  part  of  the  philosophical  naturalist  to  bring  together 
these  apparent  contrarieties  of  mutation  and  permanence ;  both 
of  which  are  included,  each  in  its  proper  place,  in  the  great 
plan  of  nature.  It  is  therefore  my  purpose  in  the  present 
chapter  to  direct  attention  to  some  of  the  terminal  points  or 
fixed  arrangements  that  we  meet  with  in  the  course  of  the 
geological  history,  and  even  in  its  earlier  parts,  and  more  par- 
ticularly in  reference  to  the  organic  world.  This,  which  is  in 
itself  constantly  changing,  has  been  placed  under  necessity  to 
adhere  to  certain  determinations  fixed  of  old,  and  which 
regulate  its  forms  and  possibilities  down  to  our  own  time. 


PRE-DETERMINATION   IN    NATURE  333 

The  argument,  as  we  have  seen  in  a  previous  chapter,  for  the 
animal  nature  of  Eozoon  depends  on  our  assuming  certain 
parts  of  this  fixity.  We  suppose  that  then  as  now  calcium 
carbonate  had  been  selected  as  the  material  for  the  skeletons 
of  such  creatures  ;  that  then,  as  now,  minute  tubuli  and  large 
canals  were  necessary  to  enable  the  soft  animal  matter  to  per- 
meate and  pass  through  the  skeleton,  and  that  the  protoplas- 
mic animal  matter  of  these  far  back  geological  periods  had  the 
same  vital  properties  of  contraction  and  extension,  digestion,  etc., 
that  it  has  to-day.  Could  any  one  prove  that  these  determina- 
tions of  vital  and  other  forces  had  not  been  established,  or  that 
living  protoplasmic  matter,  with  all  its  wonderful  properties, 
had  not  been  constructed  in  the  Laurentian  period,  the  exist- 
ence of  this  ancient  animal  would  be  impossible.  Yet  how 
much  is  implied  in  all  this,  and  though  nothing  is  more  un- 
stable chemically  or  vitally  than  protoplasm,  if  it  were  intro- 
duced in  the  Laurentian,  it  has  continued  practically  unchanged 
up  to  the  present  time. 

If  we  pass  on  to  the  undoubted  and  varied  life  of  the 
Cambrian  period,  we  shall  find  that  multitudes  of  things  which 
might  have  been  otherwise  were  already  settled  in  a  way  that 
has  required  no  change. 

In  the  oldest  Trilobites  the  whole  of  the  mechanical  con- 
ditions of  an  external  articulated  skeleton  had  been  finally 
settled.  The  material  chitinous  or  partly  calcareous,  its  micro- 
scopic structure,  fitted  to  combine  lightness  and  strength  with 
facility  for  rapid  growth,  the  subdivision  of  its  several  rings,  so 
as  to  form  a  protective  armour  and  a  mobile  skeleton,  the 
arrangement  of  its  spines  for  defence  without  interfering  with 
locomotion,  the  contrivance  of  hinge  joints  arranged  in  different 
planes  in  the  limbs, — all  these  were  already  in  full  perfection, 
and  just  as  they  are  found  to-day  in  the  skeleton  of  a  king- 
crab  or  any  other  Crustacean.  They  have,  it  is  true,  been 
modified  into  a  vast  number  of  subordinate  forms  and  uses, 


334  PRE-DETERMINATION   IN   NATURE 

but  the  general  principles  and  main  structures  all  stand.  I 
was  much  struck  with  this  recently  in  studying  a  remarkable 
specimen  now  in  the  National  Museum  at  Washington.  It  is 
a  large  species  of  Asaphus;  the  same  genus  which  gave  to  the 
late  Mr.  Billings  the  limbs  of  a  Trilobite,  the  first  ever  de- 
scribed ;  but  in  the  Washington  specimen  they  are  remarkably 
perfect.  Each  limb  presents  a  series  of  joints  resembling 
those  of  the  tarsus  of  an  insect,  each  joint  being  of  conical 
form  with  the  narrow  proximal  end  articulated  to  the  enlarged 
distal  end  of  the  previous  one,  so  as  to  give  great  facility  of 
movement  and  accommodation  for  delicate  muscular  bands. 
This  tells  us  of  muscular  fibre  and  tendon  fitted  for  flexing 
and  extending  these  numerous  joints,  of  motor  nerves  to  work 
that  marvellous  contractile  power  of  the  striated  muscle, 
whose  mode  of  action  is  still  an  insoluble  mystery,  yet  one 
practically  solved  in  the  remote  Cambrian  age  for  the  benefit 
of  these  humble  inhabitants  of  the  sea.  If  we  could  imagine 
that  the  inventive  power  to  perfect  such  machinery  was  pre- 
sent in  the  brains  of  these  old  Crustaceans  or  Arachnidans,  we 
might  wish  that  some  of  them  had  survived  to  instruct  us  in 
matters  which  baffle  our  research. 

It  is  long  since  the  compound  eyes  of  these  Trilobites,  as 
illustrated  by  Burmeister,  gave  Buckland  the  opportunity  to 
infer  that  the  laws  of  light  and  of  vision  were  the  same  from 
the  first  as  now.  But  what  does  this  imply  ?  Not  only  that 
the  light  of  the  sun  penetrating  to  the  depths  of  the  Cambrian 
sea,  was  regulated  by  the  same  laws  as  to-day,  but  that  a  series 
of  cameras  was  perfected  to  receive  the  light  as  reflected  from 
objects,  to  picture  the  appearance  of  these  objects  on  a  retinal 
screen  as  sensitive  as  the  film  of  the  photographer,  and  thereby 
to  produce  true  perceptions  of  vision  in  the  sensorium  of  these 
ancient  animals.  I  have  before  me  a  fragment  of  the  eye  of  a 
Trilobite  (Phacops),  in  which  may  be  seen  the  little  radiating 
tubes  provided  for  the  several  ocelli  of  the  compound  eye,  just 


PRE-DETERMINATION   IN    NATURE  335 

as  we  see  in  the  modern  Limulus;  and  each  of  these  ocelli  must 
have  been  a  perfect  photographic  camera,  and  more  than  this, 
since  absolutely  automatic,  and  probably  having  the  power  to 
represent  colour  as  well  as  light  and  shade.  We  know  also, 
from  the  recent  experiments  of  an  Austrian  physiologist  on  the 
eyes  of  insects,  that  such  compound  eyes  are  so  constructed 
as  to  present  a  single  picture,  just  as  we  can  see  the  whole 
landscape  in  looking  through  the  many  little  panes  of  a  cottage 
window.  In  our  own  time  the  king-crab  and  lobster  no  doubt 
see  just  as  their  predecessors  did  millions  of  years  ago,  and  with 
precisely  similar  instruments. 

But  the  eyes  of  the  modern  Crustaceans  have  to  compete 
with  eyes  of  a  dissimilar  type,  constructed  on  the  same  general 
optical  principles,  but  quite  different  in  detail.  These  are  the 
simple  or  single  eyes  of  the  cuttlefishes  and  the  true  fishes. 
The  same  rivalry  existed  in  the  oldest  seas,  when  the  com- 
petition of  Crustaceans  and  cuttles  was  just  as  keen  as  now. 
Though  the  eyes  of  the  latter  have  not  been  preserved,  or  at 
least  have  not  yet  been  found,  we  have  a  right  to  infer  that  the 
cuttles  of  the  Cambrian  and  Silurian  seas  must  have  been  able 
to  see  as  well  as  their  Crustacean  foes  and  competitors.  If  so, 
the  other  type  of  eye  must  have  been  perfected  for  aquatic 
vision  as  early  as  the  compound  type.  In  any  case  we  know 
that  a  little  later,  in  the  Carboniferous  period,  we  have  evidence 
that  the  eyes  of  fishes  conformed  to  those  of  their  modern  suc- 
cessors. I  have  myself  described  l  a  carboniferous  fish  (Pakz- 
oniscus)  from  the  bituminous  shales  of  Albert  County,  New 
Brunswick,  in  which  the  hard  globular  lens  of  the  eye  had  been 
sufficiently  firm  and  durable  to  retain  its  form,  and  to  be  re- 
placed by  calcite,  showing  even  that  like  the  lens  of  the  eye  of 
a  modern  fish  it  had  been  constructed  of  concentric  laminae. 
In  the  Carboniferous  period  also,  both  types  of  eye,  the  com- 
pound and  the  single,  experienced  the  further  modifications 
1  Canadian  Naturalist. 


336  PRE-DETERMINATION    IN    NATURE 

necessaiy  to  fit  them  for  vision  in  air,  the  compound  eye  in 
insects,  the  simple  eye  in  Batrachians.1  The  original  photo- 
graphic cameras,  strange  though  this  may  appear  to  us,  were 
intended  for  use  under  water ;  but  at  a  very  early  time  they  were 
adapted  to  work  in  air. 

But  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  this  early  solving  of  advanced 
problems  in  mechanics,  optics  and  physiology  was  in  favour  of 
Crustaceans  and  cuttles,  which  were  lords  of  creation  in  their 
time.  There  were  in  those  early  days  humbler  creatures  whose 
structures  also  present  wonderful  contrivances. 

I  have  already  referred,  in  the  chapter  on  imperfection  of  the 
geological  record,  to  the  fossil  sponges  which  have  been  found 
in  so  great  number  and  perfection  in  some  of  the  oldest  rocks 
of  Canada,  and  which  have  for  the  first  time  enabled  us  to 
appreciate  the  forms  and  structures  of  the  wonderful  silicious 
sponges  which  preceded  those  with  which  the  dredgings  of  the 
Challenger\\a.vQ  made  us  familiar  in  the  modern  seas.  Humble 
sarcodous  animals,  without  distinct  muscular  or  nervous 
system  or  external  senses,  the  sponges  have  at  least  to  live  and 
grow,  and  to  that  end  they  must  already,  in  the  dawn  of  life  on 
our  planet,2  have  perfected  those  arrangements  of  ciliated  cells 
in  chambers  and  canals  which  the  microscope  shows  us  driv- 
ing currents  of  water  through  the  modern  sponges,  and  thereby 
bringing  to  them  the  materials  of  food  and  means  of  respira- 
tion. It  is  true  we  know  as  little  as  the  sponges  themselves  of 
the  modus  operandi  of  those  perpetually  waving  threads  which 
we  call  cilia  or  flagella,  yet  they  must  have  existed  with  all  their 
powers  even  before  the  Cambrian  period.3 


1  See  ante,  chapter  on  Air-breathers. 

2  I  have  found  spicules  of  sponges  in  the  chert  nodules  from  the  Huronian 
limestones  of  Canada. 

3  Many  species  of  hexaclinelled  sponges  have  have  been  described  from 
the  upper  Cambrian  or  lower  Cambro-Silurian  of  Canada.     See  paper  by 
the  author  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Canada,  1889. 


A  GIANT  N ET- SPONGE.— Palaosaccus  Dawsoni,  Hinde. 
From  the  Quebec  group  (Ordovician),  Little  Metis,  Canada. 

Reduced  to  $  the  diameter. 
(From  the  Geological  Magazine^  1803.) 


PRE-DETERMINATION   IN   NATURE  337 

The  sponge,  in  order  to  support  its  delicate  protoplasmic 
structures,  must  have  a  skeleton.  In  modern  times  we  find 
these  creatures  depositing  corneous  or  horny  fibres,  as  in  the 
common  washing  sponges,  or  forming  complex  and  beautiful 
structures  of  needles,  or  threads  of  silica  or  calcite,  and  they 
seem  from  the  first  to  have  been  able  to  avail  themselves  of 
all  these  different  materials.  The  oldest  species  that  we  know 
had  silicious  or  calcareous  skeletons,  though  some  of  them 
must  also  have  had  a  certain  amount,  at  least,  of  the  ordinary 
spongy  or  corneous  fibres.  But  the  most  astonishing  feature 
in  what  remains  of  their  skeletons,  flattened  out  as  they  are  on 
the  surfaces  of  dark  slaty  rock,  is  the  manner  in  which  they 
worked  up  so  refractory  a  material  as  silica  into  fibres  like  spun 
glass  rods  and  crosses,  and  built  these  up  into  beautiful  basket- 
like  forms,  globular,  cylindrical  or  conical.  It  was  necessary 
that  they  should  fix  themselves  on  the  soft  muddy  bottoms 
on  which  they  grew,  and  to  this  end  they  produced  slender 
silicious  fibres  or  anchoring  rods,  which,  fine  though  they  were, 
had  the  form  of  hollow  tubes.  Sometimes  a  single  rod  sufficed, 
but  in  this  case  it  had  a  crosslike  anchor  affixed  to  its  lower 
end,  to  give  it  stability.  Sometimes  there  were  several  simple 
rods,  and  then  they  were  skilfully  braced  by  spreading  them 
apart  at  the  ends,  and  by  flattening  their  extremities  into 
blades.  Sometimes  four  rods  joined  in  a  loop  at  the  end  gave 
the  required  support.  Some  larger  species  wound  together  many 
threads  like  a  wire  rope,  and  even  added  to  this  flanges  like  the 
thread  of  a  screw,  anticipating  the  principle  of  the  modern 
screw  pile. 

The  body  of  the  sponge  must  be  hollow  within,  and  must 
have  a  large  aperture  or  opening  for  the  discharge  of  water,  and 
smaller  pores  for  its  admission.  Various  general  forms  were 
adopted  for  this.  Some  were  globular,  or  oval,  or  pear-shaped ; 
others  cylindrical,  concave,  or  mitre-shaped.  To  give  form  and 
strength  to  these  shapes  there  were  sometimes  vertical  and 
17* 


338  PRE-DETERMINATION    IN    NATURE 

transverse  rods  soldered  together.  In  other  cases  there  were  four- 
rayed  or  six-rayed  needles  of  silica,  with  their  points  attached 
so  as  to  form  a  beautiful  lattice-work,  with  its  meshes  either 
square  or  lozenge-shaped.  For  protection  sharp  needles  were 
arranged  like  chevaux  defrize  at  the  sides  and  apertures,  and 
these  last  were  sometimes  covered  with  a  hood  or  grating  of 
needles,  to  exclude  intruders  from  the  interior  cavity.  Other 
species,  however,  like  some  in  the  modern  seas,  seemed  to  despise 
these  niceties,  and  contented  themselves  with  long  straight 
needles  placed  in  bundles,  or  radiating  from  a  centre,  and  thus 
supporting  and  protecting  their  soft  and  sensitive  protoplasm. 

Curiously  enough,  these  old  sponges  did  not  avail  them- 
selves of  the  natural  cystallization  of  silica,  which,  left  to  itself, 
would  have  formed  six-rayed  stars,  with  the  rays  at  angles  of 
sixty  degrees,  or  six-sided  plates,  rods,  or  pyramids.  They 
adopted  another  and  peculiar  form  of  the  mineral,  known  as 
colloidal  silica,  and  being  thus  relieved  from  any  need  to  be 
guided  by  its  crystalline  form,  treated  it  as  we  do  glass,  and 
shaped  it  into  cylindrical  tubes,  round  needles  and  stars  or 
crosses,  with  the  rays  at  right  angles  to  each  other. 

The  sponges  whose  skeletons  are  thus  constructed,  and  which 
anticipated  so  many  mechanical  contrivances  long  afterwards 
devised  by  man,  belonged  to  a  group  of  silicious  sponges 
(Hexaclinellida:)  which  is  still  extant,  and  represented  by 
many  rare  and  beautiful  species  of  the  deep  sea,  which  are 
the  ornaments  of  our  museums,  and  of  which  the  beautiful 
Eupleectella  or  Venus  flower-basket,  from  the  Philippine  Islands, 
and  the  glass-rope  sponge  (Hyalonema),  from  Japan,  are 
examples.  But  contemporary  with  these  there  was  another 
group  (Lithistidte),  constructing  skeletons  of  carbonate  of  lime, 
and  which  preferred,  instead  of  the  regular  mechanical  struc- 
tures of  the  others,  a  kind  of  rustic  work,  made  up  of  irregular 
fibres,  very  beautiful  and  strong,  but  as  a  matter  of  pattern  and 
taste  standing  quite  by  itself.  If  there  were  any  sponges  with 


PRE-DETERMINATION    IN   NATURE  339 

altogether  soft  and  spongy  skeletons  in  these  old  times,  their 
remains  do  not  seem  to  have  been  preserved. 

Here,  it  will  be  observed,  are  a  great  variety  of  vital  and 
mechanical  contrivances  devised  in  the  very  early  history  of  the 
earth,  settled  for  all  time,  and  handed  down  without  improve- 
ment, and  with  little  change,  to  our  later  day.  They  are  indeed 
vastly  more  wonderful  than  the  above  general  account  can  show ; 
for  to  go  into  the  details  of  structure  of  any  one  of  the  species 
would  develop  a  multitude  of  minor  complexities  and  niceties 
which  no  one  not  specially  a  student  of  these  animals  could 
appreciate. 

These  are  not  solitary  cases.  The  student  of  fossils  meets 
with  them  at  every  turn ;  and  if  he  possesses  the  taste  and 
imagination  of  a  true  naturalist,  cannot  fail  to  be  impressed  with 
them. 

To  turn  to  a  later  but  very  ancient  period,  what  can  be  more 
astonishing  than  those  first  air-breathing  vertebrates  of  the 
Coal  formation  referred  to  in  a  previous  chapter,  with  all  their 
special  arrangements  for  an  aerial  habitat  ?  I  have  mentioned 
their  footprints,  and  when  we  see  the  quarrymen  split  open  a 
slab  of  sandstone  and  expose  a  series  of  great  plantigrade  tracks, 
not  unlike  those  of  a  human  foot,  with  the  five  toes  well  deve- 
loped, we  are  almost  as  much  astonished  as  Crusoe  was  when 
he  saw  the  footprints  on  the  sand.  Crusoe  inferred  the  presence 
of  another  man  in  his  island ;  we  infer  the  earliest  appearance 
of  an  air-breathing  vertebrate  and  the  pre-human  determination 
of  the  form  and  number  of  parts  of  the  human  foot  and  hand, 
to  appear  in  the  world  long  ages  afterward.  We  see  also  that 
already  that  decimal  system  of  notation  which  we  have  founded 
on  the  counting  of  our  ten  fingers  was  settled  in  the  framework 
of  most  unmathematical  Batrachians.  It  has  approved  itself  ever 
since  as  the  typical  and  most  perfect  number  of  parts  for  such 
organs. 

If  sceptically  inclined,  we  may  ask,  Why  five  rather  than 


340  PRE-DETERMINATION    IN   NATURE 

four  or  six  ?  In  the  case  of  man  we  see  that  individuals  who 
have  lost  one  finger  have  the  use  of  the  hand  impaired,  while 
the  few  who  happen  to  have  six  do  not  seem  to  be  the  better. 
How  it  was  with  the  old  Batrachians  we  do  not  know;  but  it  is 
certain  that  if  we  could  have  amputated  the  claw-bearing  little 
toe  of  Sauropus  unguifer,  or  the  reflexed  little  toe  of  Cheirothe- 
rium,  we  should  have  much  injured  their  locomotive  power. 

The  vegetable  kingdom  is  full  of  similar  examples  of  the  early 
settlement  of  great  questions.  Perhaps  nothing  is  more  mar- 
vellous than  the  power  of  the  green  cells  of  the  leaf  as  workers 
of  those  complex  and  inimitable  chemical  changes  whereby  out 
of  the  water,  carbon  dioxide  and  ammonia  of  the  soil  and  the 
atmosphere,  the  living  vegetable  cell,  with  the  aid  of  solar 
energy,  elaborates  all  the  varied  organic  compounds  produced 
by  the  vegetable  kingdom.  Yet  this  seems  all  to  have  been 
settled  and  perfected  in  the  old  Silurian  period,  long  before  any 
kind  of  plant  now  living  was  on  the  earth.  Perhaps  in  some 
form  it  existed  even  in  the  Laurentian  age,  and  was  instru- 
mental in  laying  up  its  great  beds  of  carbon.  So  all  that  is 
essential  in  plant  reproduction,  whether  in  that  simpler  form  in 
which  a  one-celled  spore  is  the  reproductive  organ,  or  in  that 
more  complex  form  in  which  an  embryo  plant  is  formed  in  the 
seed,  with  a  store  of  nourishment  laid  up  for  its  susten- 
ance. 

These  arrangements  were  obviously  as  perfect  in  the  great 
club  mosses  and  pines  of  the  Devonian  and  Carboniferous  as 
they  have  ever  been  since,  and  we  have  specimens  so  preserved 
as  to  show  their  minute  parts  just  as  well  as  in  recent  plants. 
The  microscope  also  shows  us  that  the  contrivances  for  thicken- 
ing and  strengthening  the  woody  fibres  and  trunk  of  the  stem 
by  bars  or  interrupted  linings  of  ligneous  matter,  so  as  to  give 
strength  and  at  the  same  time  permit  transudation  of  sap,  were 
all  perfected,  down  to  their  minutest  details,  in  the  oldest  land 
plants.  It  is  true  that  flowers  with  gay  petals  and  some  of  the 


PRE-DETERMINATION   IN    NATURE  341 

more  complicated  kinds  of  fruit  are  later  inventions,  but  the 
additions  in  these  consist  mainly  of  accessories.  The  essentials 
of  vegetable  reproduction  were  as  well  provided  for  from  the 
first. 

The  same  principle  applies  to  many  of  the  leading  forms  and 
types  of  life,  considered  as  genera  or  species.  While  some  of 
these  are  of  recent  introduction,  others  have  continued  almost 
unchanged  from  the  remotest  ages.  Such  creatures  as  the 
Lingulae,  some  of  the  Crustaceans  and  of  the  Mollusks,  the 
Polyzoa  and  some  Corals  have  remained  with  scarcely  any 
change  throughout  geological  time,  while  others  have  dis- 
appeared, and  have  been  replaced  by  new  types. 

We  began  this  chapter  with  a  consideration  of  the  per- 
manence of  continental  areas,  and  may  close  with  a  reference 
to  the  same  great  fact  in  connection  with  the  continuity  of  life. 
Whether  with  some  we  attach  more  importance  to  the  support 
of  the  continents  by  lateral  pressure  and  rigidity,  or  with  others 
to  what  may  be  termed  flotation,  by  virtue  of  their  less  density, 
as  compared  with  that  of  the  lower  parts  of  the  earth ;  there 
can  be  little  doubt  that  both  principles  have  been  applied,  and 
that  both  admit  of  some  vertical  movement.  Thus  the  stability 
of  the  continents  is  one  of  position  rather  than  height,  and 
their  internal  plateaus  as  well  as  their  partially  submerged 
marginal  slopes  have  undergone  great  and  unequal  elevations 
and  depressions,  causing  most  important  geographical  changes. 
Among  these  are  the  formation  of  connecting  bridges  of  shoals, 
islands,  or  low  land,  connecting  the  continental  masses  at 
different  periods,  and  permitting  migrations  of  shallow-water 
animals  and  even  of  denizens  of  the  land.  The  facts  adduced 
in  previous  pages  are  sufficient  to  show  connections  across  the 
north  of  the  Atlantic  at  intervals  reaching  from  the  Cambrian 
to  the  Modern. 

The  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter  is  that  there  is  a  fixity 
and  unchangeableness  in  determinations  and  arrangements  of 


342  PRE-DETERMINATION   IN    NATURE 

force  just  as  much  as  in  natural  laws  ;  and  that  while  God  has 
made  everything  beautiful  in  its  time  He  has  also  made  every- 
thing beautiful  and  useful  in  some  sense  for  all  time.  With  all 
this,  while  the  great  principles  and  modes  of  operation  remain 
unchanged,  there  is  ample  scope  for  development,  modification 
and  adaptation  to  new  ends,  without  deviation  from  essential 
properties  and  characters.  It  is  a  wise  and  thoughtful  philosophy 
which  can  distinguish  what  is  fixed  and  unchangeable  from  that 
which  is  fluctuating  and  capable  of  development.  Until  this 
distinction  is  fully  understood,  we  may  expect  one-sided  views 
and  faulty  generalizations  in  our  attempts  to  understand 
nature. 

REFERENCES  : — "The  Chain  of  Life  in  Geological  Times."  London.  New 
Species  of  Fossil  Sponges  from  the  Quebec  Group  at  Little  Metis. 
Trans.  Royal  Society  of  Canada,  1889.  Fossil  Fishes  from  the  Lower 
Carboniferous  of  New  Brunswick.  Canadian  Naturalist,  "Acadian 
Geology,"  1855,  and  later  editions  to  1892.  London  and  Montreal. 
*'The  Story  of  the  Earth,"  1872.  and  later  editions  to  1891.  London. 


THE  GREAT  ICE  AGE. 

DEDICATED   TO   THE   MEMORY   OF 

MY   LATE   FRIEND 

DAVID   MILNE   HOME,    LL.D.,    F.R.S.E.,    ETC., 

AN   EMINENT  AND  JUDICIOUS   ADVOCATE  OF  SOUND  AND 

MODERATE  VIEWS   RESPECTING  THE  GLACIAL  AGE. 


EXAGGERATED  IDEAS— THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  VALLEY— MODERN 
ICE  ACTION  IN  THE  ST.  LAWRENCE — COAST  ICE — THE 
ICEBERGS  OF  BELLE-!SLE— MT.  BLANC  AND  ITS  GLACIERS 
—EFFECTS  OF  GLACIERS  —  POSSIBLE  EXTENSION  OF 
GLACIERS — FACTS  OF  GLACIATION  IN  CANADA. — COR- 

DILLERAN  GLACIER,  LAURENTIDE  GLACIER,  APPALACHIAN 

GLACIER— SUBMERGED  VALLEYS  AND  PLAINS— DOUBLE 
SUBMERGENCE  AND  INTERMEDIATE  PARTIAL  ELEVATION 
— INTERGLACIAL  PERIODS — QUESTIONS  AS  TO  ALTERNATE 
GLACIATION  OF  NORTHERN  AND  SOUTHERN  HEMISPHERES 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
THE   GREAT  ICE  AGE. 

SCIENTIFIC  superstitions,  understanding  by  this  name 
vj}  the  reception  of  hypotheses  of  prominent  men,  and  using 
these  as  fetishes  to  be  worshipped  and  to  be  employed  in 
miraculous  works,  are  scarcely  less  common  in  our  time  than 
superstitions  of  another  kind  were  in  darker  ages.  One  of 
these  which  has  been  dominant  for  a  long  time  in  geology, 
and  has  scarcely  yet  run  its  course,  is  that  of  the  Great  Ice 
Age,  with  its  accompaniments  of  Continental  Glaciers  and 
Polar  Ice  Cap.  The  cause  of  this  it  is  not  difficult  to 
discern.  The  covering  of  till,  gravel  and  travelled  boulders 
which  encumbers  the  surface  of  the  northern  hemisphere 
from  the  Arctic  regions  more  than  half  way  to  the  equator, 
had  long  been  a  puzzle  to  geologists,  and  this  was  increased 
rather  than  diminished  when  the  doctrine  of  appeal  to  recent 
causes  on  the  principle  of  uniformity  became  current.  It  was 
seen  that  it  was  necessary  to  invoke  the  action  of  ice  in  some 
form  to  account  for  these  deposits,  and  it  was  at  the  same 
time  perceived  that  there  was  much  evidence  to  prove  that 
between  the  warm  climate  of  the  early  Tertiary  and  the  more 
subdued  mildness  of  the  modern  time  there  had  intervened 
a  period  of  unusual  and  extreme  cold.  In  this  state  of 
affairs  attention  was  attracted  to  the  Alpine  glaciers.  Their 
movement,  their  erosion  of  surfaces,  their  heaping  up  of 
moraines  bearing  some  resemblance  to  the  widely  extended 
boulder  deposits,  their  former  greater  extension,  as  indicated 


34^  THE   GREAT   ICE  AGE 

by  old  moraines  at  lower  levels  than  those  in  process  of 
formation,  were  noted.  Here  was  a  modern  cause  capable  of 
explaining  all  the  phenomena.  Men's  minds  were  taken  by 
storm,  and  as  always  happens  in  the  case  of  new  and  im- 
portant discoveries,  the  agency  of  glaciers  was  pushed  at  once 
far  beyond  the  possibilities  of  their  action  under  any  known 
physical  or  climatal  laws.  This  exaggerated  idea  of  the 
action  of  land  ice  in  the  form  of  glaciers  is  not  yet  exploded, 
more  especially  in  the  United  States,  where  official  sanction 
has  been  given  to  it  by  the  Geological  Survey,  and  where  it 
has  been  introduced  even  into  school  and  college  text-books. 
It  affords  also  a  telling  bit  of  scientific  sensationalism,  which 
can  scarcely  be  resisted  by  a  certain  class  of  popular  writers. 
America  has  also  afforded  greater  facilities  for  extreme  theories 
of  this  kind,  owing  to  the  wide  and  uninterrupted  distribution 
of  glacial  deposits,  and  the  more  simple  and  less  broken 
character  of  its  great  internal  plateau,  while  the  influence 
of  great  leading  minds,  like  those  of  the  elder  Agassiz  and  of 
Dana,  naturally  held  sway  over  the  younger  geologists.  Fortu- 
nately Canada,  which  possesses  the  larger  and  more  northern 
half  of  the  North  American  continent;  though  numerically 
inferior,  and  therefore  overborne  in  the  discussion,  has,  in 
the  main,  remained  stedfast  to  facts  rather  than  to  specious 
theories,  and  has  been  confirmed  in  this  position  by  the 
clearer  testimony  of  nature  in  a  region  where  many  of  the 
features  of  the  glacial  age  still  persist. l 

The  writer  of  these  pages  has,  ever  since  the  publication  of 
the  first  edition  of  his  "  Acadian  Geology," 3  steadily  resisted 
the  more  extreme  views  of  glaciation,  and  has  opposed  the 
southward  progress  of  the  great  continental  glacier.  Though, 
figuratively  speaking,  overborne  and  pressed  back  in  the 

1  I  may  refer  here  to  the  recent  researches  of  Dr.  G.  M.  Dawson,  Mr. 
R.  Chalmers,  Mr.  McConnell  and  Dr.  Ells. 

2  1855. 


THE  GREAT   ICE   AGE  347 

course  of  its  extension,  he  has  now,  like  those  primitive  men 
who  are  imagined  in  the  post-glacial  age  to  have  followed  up 
the  retreat  of  the  ice,  the  pleasure  of  seeing  the  once  formid- 
able continental  glacier  broken  up  into  great  local  glaciers 
on  the  mountain  ranges  separated  by  intervening  areas  of 
submergence. 

The  questions  relating  to  this  subject  are  too  numerous  and 
varied  for  treatment  here.  The  question  of  the  causes  of  the 
great  lowering  of  temperature  in  the  glacial  age  I  shall  leave 
for  consideration  in  the  next  chapter,  and  merely  state  here 
that  I  believe  changes  of  distribution  of  sea  and  land  and  of 
ocean  currents  are  sufficient  to  account  for  all  the  refrigeration 
of  which  there  is  good  evidence.  I  content  myself  with  a 
comparison  of  the  glacial  phenomena  of  Mont  Blanc  and  of 
the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  from  my  own  observation,1  and  some 
general  deductions  as  to  glacier  possibilities. 

A  scientific  voyager  carries  with  him  a  species  of  question- 
ing peculiar  to  himself.  Not  content  with  vacantly  gazing 
at  the  sea,  scrutinizing  his  fellow  passengers,  noting  the 
changes  of  the  weather  and  the  length  of  the  day's  run,  he 
recognises  in  the  sea  one  of  the  great  features  of  the  earth, 
and  questions  it  daily  as  to  its  present  and  its  past  The 
present  features  of  the  sea  include  much  of  surpassing  interest, 
but  the  questions  which  relate  to  its  origin  and  early  history 
are  still  more  attractive.  Some  of  these  questions  are  likely 
to  interest  a  voyager  from  Canada  entering  the  Atlantic  by 
one  of  its  greatest  tributaries,  the  St.  Lawrence. 

In  doing  so,  we  approach  the  ocean  not  at  a  right  angle, 
but  along  a  line  only  slightly  inclined  to  its  western  side,  and 
we  find  ourselves  in  a  broad  estuary  or  trough,  having  on  its 
north-western  side  rugged  hills  of  old  crystalline  rocks,  the 
Laurentian,  ridged  up  in  great  folds  or  earth  waves  parallel 
to  the  river.  On  the  south-east  or  right-hand  side  we  have 
1  Published  in  1867. 


THE  GREAT  ICE  AGE 


a  lower  barrier  of  earth  waves  composed  of  sedimentary  rocks 
somewhat  later  in  date,  but  still  geologically  very  ancient.  We 
are  thus  introduced  to  a  remarkable  feature  of  the  west  side 
of  the  North  Atlantic,  namely,  that  its  border  is  made  up  of 
very  old  rocks  folded  into  mountain  ridges  thrown  up  at  an 
ancient  period,  and  approximately  parallel  to  the  coast.  The 
Lower  St.  Lawrence  occupies  a  furrow  between  two  of  these 
ridges. 

Here,  however,  a  more  modern  feature  attracts  our  attention. 
The  sides  of  the  bounding  hills  are  cut  in  a  succession  of 
terraces,  rising  one  above  another  from  the  level  of  the  sea 
to  a  height  of  500  feet  or  more,  capped  with  long  ranges  of 
the  white  houses  and  barns  of  the  Canadian  habitants,  and 
furnishing  level  lines  for  the  "  concession  roads  "  which  run 
along  the  coast.  These  terraces  are  really  old  sea  margins 
indicating  the  stages  of  the  elevation  of  the  land  out  of  the 
sea  immediately  before  the  modern  period.  On  these  terraces, 
and  in  the  clays  and  sands  which  form  the  plateaus  extend- 
ing in  some  places  in  front  of  them,  are  sea  shells  of  the 
same  kinds  with  those  now  living  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence, 
and  occasionally  we  find  bones  of  whales  which  have  been 
stranded  on  the  old  beaches. 

These  terraces  are,  of  course,  indications  of  change  of  level 
in  very  modern  times.  They  show  that  in  what  we  call  the 
Pleistocene  age  the  land  was  lower  than  at  present,  and  we 
shall  find  that  in  the  Lower  St.  Lawrence  there  is  evidence 
of  a  depression  extending  to  over  1,000  feet,  carrying  the 
sea  far  up  the  valley,  so  that  sea  shells  are  found  in  the  clays 
as  far  up  as  Kingston  and  Ottawa,  and  stranded  skeletons 
of  whales  as  far  west  as  Smith's  Falls,  in  Ontario. 

If  we  examine  the  shores  more  minutely,  we  shall  find  all 
along  the  south  coast  a  belt  of  boulders  which  are  often  as 
much  as  eight  to  ten  feet  in  diameter,  and  consist  largely 
of  rocks  found  only  in  the  hills  of  the  northern  coast,  more 


THE  GREAT  ICE  AGE  349 

than  thirty  miles  distant,  from  which  they  must  have  been 
drifted  to  their  present  position.  This  boulder  belt,  which 
extends  from  the  lowest  tide  mark  about  fifty  feet  or  more 
upward,  is  sometimes  piled  in  ridges  and  sometimes  flattened 
out  into  a  rude  pavement.  It  is  a  product  of  the  modern 
field  ice,  which,  attaining  a  great  thickness  in  winter,  has 
boulders  frozen  into  its  bottom,  and  floating  up  and  down 
with  the  tide,  deposits  these  on  the  shore.  At  Little  Metis, 
two  hundred  miles  below  Quebec,  where  I  have  a  summer 
residence,  I  have  from  year  to  year  cleared  a  passage  through 
the  boulder  belt  for  bathing  and  for  launching  boats,  and 
nearly  every  spring  I  find  that  boulders  have  been  thrown  into 
the  cleared  space  by  the  ice,  while  one  can  notice  from  year 
to  year  differences  in  the  position  of  very  large  boulders. 

If  we  pass  inland  from  the  shore  belt  of  boulders,  we  shall 
find  similar  appearances  on  the  inland  ferraces  at  various 
heights,  up  to  at  least  400  feet.  These  are  inland  boulder 
belts  belonging  to  old  shores  now  elevated.  Like  the  modern 
boulder  belt  these  inland  belts  and  patches  consist  partly  of 
Laurentian  rocks  from  the  North  Shore,  partly  of  sandstones 
and  conglomerates  in  place  near  to  their  present  sites.  In 
some  places  the  stones  are  smaller  than  those  of  the  present 
beach,  in  other  places  of  gigantic  size.  These  boulders  lie 
not  only  on  the  bare  rock  striated  in  places  with  ice  grooves 
pointing  to  the  north-north-east ;  but  on  the  old  till  or  boulder 
clay,  which  also  abounds  with  boulders,  and  which  is  more 
ancient  than  the  superficial  boulder  drift.  Locally  we  find 
here  and  there  masses  of  fossiliferous  limestone  which  must 
have  been  derived  from  the  high  ground  to  the  south  of  the 
St.  Lawrence,  and  which  have  been  borne  northward  either 
by  drift  ice  or  by  local  glaciers. 

If  now  we  study  the  polished  and  scored  surfaces  of  rocks 
in  the  St.  Lawrence  valley  and  the  bounding  hills,  we  shall 
find  that  while  the  former  testify  to  a  great  movement  of 


350  THE   GREAT   ICE  AGE 

ice  and  boulders  up  the  river  from  the  north-east,  the  latter 
show  evident  signs  of  the  movement  of  locial  glaciers  down 
the  valleys  of  the  Laurentide  hills  to  the  south,  and  on  the 
continuation  of  the  Appalachians  south  of  the  river  similar 
evidence  of  the  movement  of  land  ice  to  the  north.  Thus 
we  have  evidence  of  the  combined  action  of  local  glaciers  and 
floating  ice.  To  add  to  all  this,  we  can  find  on  the  flat  tops 
of  the  hard  sandstone  boulders  on  the  beach  the  scratches 
made  by  the  ice  of  last  winter,  often  in  the  same  north-easterly 
direction  with  those  of  the  Pleistocene  time. 

In  addition  to  the  ice  formed  in  winter  in  the  St.  Lawrence 
itself,  the  snow- clad  hills  of  Greenland  send  down  to  the  sea 
great  glaciers,  which  in  the  bays  and  fiords  of  that  inhospitable 
region  form  at  their  extremities  huge  cliffs  of  everlasting  ice, 
and  annually  "calve,"  as  the  seamen  say,  or  give  off  a  great 
progeny  of  ice  isla'nds,  which,  slowly  drifted  to  the  southward 
by  the  arctic  current,  pass  along  the  American  coast,  diffusing 
a  cold  and  bleak  atmosphere,  until  they  melt  in  the  warm 
waters  of  the  Gulf  Stream.  Many  of  these  bergs  enter  the 
Straits  of  Belle-Isle,  for  the  Arctic  current  clings  closely  to 
the  coast,  and  a  part  of  it  seems  to  be  deflected  into  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  through  this  passage,  carrying  with  it 
many  large  bergs.  The  voyager  passing  through  this  strait 
in  clear  weather  may  see  numbers  of  these  ice  islands  glisten- 
ing in  snowy  whiteness,  or  showing  deep  green  cliffs  and 
pinnacles — sometimes  with  layers  of  earthy  matter  and  stones, 
or  dotted  with  numerous  sea  birds,  which  rest  upon  them 
when  gorged  with  the  food  afforded  by  shoals  of  fish  and 
others  marine  animals  which  haunt  these  cold  seas.  In  early 
summer  the  bergs  are  massive  in  form,  often  with  flat  tops, 
but  as  the  summer  advances  they  become  eroded  by  the  sun 
and  warm  winds,  till  they  present  the  most  grotesque  forms 
of  rude  towers  and  spires  rising  from  broad  foundations  little 
elevated  above  the  water. 


THE   GREAT   ICE   AGE  351 

Mr.  Vaughan,  late  superintendent  of  the  Lighthouse  at 
Belle-Isle,  has  kept  a  register  of  icebergs  for  several  years.  He 
states  that  for  ten  which  enter  the  straits,  fifty  drift  to  the 
southward,  and  that  most  of  those  which  enter  pass  inward  on 
the  north  side  of  the  island,  drift  toward  the  western  end  of 
the  straits,  and  then  pass  out  on  the  south  side  of  the  island,  so 
that  the  straits  seem  to  be  merely  a  sort  of  eddy  in  the  course 
of  the  bergs.  The  number  in  the  straits  varies  much  in  differ- 
ent seasons  of  the  year.  The  greatest  number  are  seen  in 
spring,  especially  in  May  and  June  ;  and  toward  autumn  and 
in  the  winter  very  few  remain.  Those  which  remain  until 
autumn  are  reduced  to  mere  skeletons ;  but  if  they  survive 
until  winter,  they  again  grow  in  dimensions,  owing  to  the  accu- 
mulations upon  them  of  snow  and  new  ice.  Those  that  we 
saw  early  in  July  were  large  and  massive  in  their  proportions. 
The  few  that  remained  when  we  returned  in  September  were 
smaller  in  size,  and  cut  into  fantastic  and  toppling  pinnacles. 
Vaughan  records  that  on  the  3oth  of  May,  1858,  he  counted  in 
the  Straits  of  Belle-Isle  496  bergs,  the  least  of  them  sixty  feet 
in  height,  some  of  them  half  a  mile  long  and  200  feet  high. 
Only  one-eighth  of  the  volume  of  floating  ice  appears  above 
water,  and  many  of  these  great  bergs  may  thus  touch  the 
ground  in  a  depth  of  thirty  fathoms  or  more,  so  that  if  we  ima- 
gine four  hundred  of  them  moving  up  and  down  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  current,  oscillating  slowly  with  the  motion  of  the 
sea,  and  grinding  on  the  rocks  and  stone-covered  bottom  at  all 
depths  from  the  centre  of  the  channel,  we  may  form  some  con- 
ception of  the  effects  of  these  huge  polishers  of  the  sea  floor. 

Of  the  bergs  which  pass  outside  of  the  straits,  many  ground 
on  the  banks  off  Belle-Isle.  Vaughan  has  seen  a  hundred  large 
bergs  aground  at  one  time  on  the  banks,  and  they  ground  on 
various  parts  of  the  banks  of  Newfoundland,  and  all  along  the 
coast  of  that  island.  As  they  are  borne  by  the  deep-seated 
cold  current,  and  are  scarcely  at  all  affected  by  the  wind,  they 
18 


352  THE   GREAT   ICE  AGE 

move  somewhat  uniformly  in  a  direction  from  north-east  to 
south-west,  and  when  they  touch  the  bottom,  the  striation  or 
grooving  which  they  produce  must  be  in  that  direction. 

In  passing  through  the  straits  in  July,  I  have  seen  great 
numbers  of  bergs,  some  low  and  flat-topped,  with  perpendicular 
sides,  others  convex  or  roof-shaped,  like  great  tents  pitched  on 
the  sea ;  others  rounded  in  outline  or  rising  into  towers  and 
pinnacles.  Most  of  them  were  of  a  pure  dead  white,  like  loaf 
sugar,  shaded  with  pale  bluish  green  in  the  great  rents  and 
recent  fractures.  One  of  them  seemed  as  if  it  had  grounded 
and  then  overturned,  presenting  a.  flat  and  scored  surface 
covered  with  sand  and  earthy  matter. 

At  present  we  wish  to  regard  the  icebergs  of  Belle-Isle  in 
their  character  of  geological  agents.  Viewed  in  this  aspect, 
they  are  in  the  first  place  parts  of  the  cosmical  arrangements 
for  equalizing  temperature,  and  for  dispersing  the  great  accu- 
mulations of  ice  in  the  Arctic  regions,  which  might  otherwise 
unsettle  the  climatic  and  even  the  static  equilibrium  of  our 
globe,  as  they  are  believed  by  some  imaginative  physicists  and 
geologists  to  have  done  in  the  so-called  glacial  period.  If  the 
ice  islands  in  the  Atlantic,  like  lumps  of  ice  in  a  pitcher  of 
.  water,  chill  our  climate  in  spring,  they  are  at  the  same  time 
agents  in  preventing  a  still  more  serious  secular  chilling  which 
might  result  from  the  growth  without  limit  of  the  Arctic  snow 
and  ice.  They  are  also  constantly  employed  in  wearing  down 
the  Arctic  land,  and  aided  by  the  great  northern  current  from 
Davis's  Straits,  in  scattering  stones,  boulders  and  sand  over 
the  banks  along  the  American  coast.  Incidentally  to  this 
work,  they  smooth  and  level  the  higher  parts  of  the  sea  bottom, 
and  mark  it  with  furrows  and  striae  indicative  of  the  direction 
of  their  own  motion. 

When  we  examine  a  chart  of  the  American  coast,  and  observe 
the  deep  channel  and  hollow  submarine  valleys  of  the  Arctic 
current,  and  the  sandbanks  which  extend  parallel  to  this 


THE   GREAT   ICE  AGE  353 

channel  from  the  great  bank  of  Newfoundland  to  Cape  Cod, 
we  cannot  avoid  the  conclusion  that  the  Arctic  current  and 
its  ice  have  great  power  both  of  excavation  and  deposition. 
On  the  one  hand,  deep  hollows  are  cut  out  where  the  current 
flows  over  the  bottom,  and  on  the  other,  great  banks  are  heaped 
up  where  the  ice  thaws  and  the  force  of  the  current  is  abated. 
I  have  been  much  struck  with  the  worn  and  abraded  appear- 
ance of  stones  and  dead  shells  taken  up  from  the  banks  off  the 
American  coast,  and  am  convinced  that  an  erosive  power  com- 
parable to  that  of  a  river  carrying  sand  over  its  bed,  and  mate- 
rially aided  by  the  grinding  action  of  ice,  is  constantly  in  action 
under  the  waters  of  the  Arctic  current.1  The  unequal  pres- 
sure resulting  from  this  deposition  and  abrasion  is  not  improb- 
ably connected  with  the  slight  earthquakes  experienced  in 
Eastern  America,  and  also  with  the  slow  depression  of  the 
coast ;  and  if  we  go  back  to  that  earliest  of  all  geological 
periods  when  the  Laurentian  rocks  of  Sir  VVm.  Logan,  consti- 
tuting the  Labrador  coast  and  the  Laurentide  Hills,  were  alone 
above  water,  we  may  even  attribute  in  no  small  degree  to  the 
Arctic  current  of  that  old  time  the  heaping  up  of  those  thou- 
sands of  feet  of  deposits  which  now  constitute  the  great  range 
of  the  Alleghany  and  Apalachian  mountains,  and  form  the 
breast  bone  of  the  American  continent.  In  those  ancient 
times  also  large  stones  were  floated  southward,  and  enter  into 
the  composition  of  very  old  conglomerates. 

1  At  the  time  when  this  was  written  I  had  only  studied  stones  brought 
up  accidentally  by  fishermen  and  others  from  the  banks  of  Newfoundland 
and  elsewhere.  At  a  later  date  Murray  of  the  Challenger  has  given 
more  ample  material.  He  states  that  the  bottom  in  the  Labrador  current, 
100  miles  from  land,  was  found  to  be  blue  mud  with  60  per  cent,  of  sand 
and  stones;  and  mentions  a  block  of  syenite  weighing  490  Ibs.  taken  i'p 
in  1,340  fathoms,  and  stones  and  pebbles  of  quartzile,  limestone,  dolomite, 
mica  schist  and  serpentine,  one  of  whicli  was  glaciated.  This  is  the 
modern  boulder  clay  produced  by  Greenland  glaciers  and  the  field  ice  of 
Baffin's  Bay  and  the  Labrador  coast. 


354  THE  GREAT  ICE  AGE 

But  such  large  speculations  might  soon  carry  us  far  from 
Belle-Isle,  and  to  bring  us  back  to  the  American  coast  and  to 
the  domain  of  common  things,  we  may  note  that  a  vast  variety 
of  marine  life  exists  in  the  cold  waters  of  the  Arctic  current, 
and  that  this  is  one  of  the  reasons  of  the  great  and  valuable 
fisheries  of  Labrador,  Newfoundland  and  Nova  Scotia,  regions 
in  which  the  sea  thus  becomes  the  harvest  field  of  much  of  the 
human  population.  On  the  Arctic  current  and  its  ice  also 
floats  to  the  southward  the  game  of  the  sealers  of  St.  John  and 
the  whalers  of  Gaspe*. 

We  may  now  proceed  to  connect  these  statements  as  to  the 
distribution  of  icebergs,  with  the  glaciated  condition  of  our 
continents,  with  the  remarkable  fact  that  the  same  effects  now 
produced  by  the  ice  and  the  Arctic  current  in  the  Strait  of 
Belle-Isle  and  the  deep-current  channel  off  the  American  coast, 
are  visible  all  over  the  North  American  and  European  land 
north  of  forty  degrees  of  latitude,  and  that  there  is  evidence 
that  the  St.  Lawrence  valley  itself  was  once  a  gigantic  Belle- 
Isle,  in  which  thousands  of  bergs  worked  perhaps  for  thou- 
sands of  years,  grinding  and  striating  its  rocks,  cutting  out  its 
deeper  parts,  and  heaping  up  in  it  quantities  of  northern  debris. 
Out  of  this  fact  of  the  so-called  glaciated  condition  of  the  sur- 
face of  our  continents  has,  however,  arisen  one  of  the  great 
controversies  of  modern  geology.  While  all  admit  the  action 
of  ice  in  distributing  and  arranging  the  materials  which  consti- 
tute the  last  coating  which  has  been  laid  upon  the  surface  of 
our  continents,  some  maintain  that  land  glaciers  have  done 
the  work,  others,  that  sea-borne  ice  has  been  the  main  agent 
employed.  As  in  some  other  controversies,  the  truth  seems  to 
lie  between  the  extremes.  Glaciers  are  slow,  inactive,  and 
limited  in  their  sphere.  Floating  ice  is  locomotive  and  far- 
travelled,  extending  its  action  to  great  distances  from  its 
sources.  So  far,  the  advantages  are  in  favour  of  the  flotation. 
But  the  work  which  the  glacier  does  is  done  thoroughly,  and, 


THE   GREAT   ICE   AGE  355 

time  and  facilities  being  given,  it  may  be  done  over  wide  areas. 
Again,  the  iceberg  is  the  child  of  the  glacier,  and  therefore  the 
agency  of  the  one  is  indirectly  that  of  the  other.  Thus,  in  any 
view  we  must  plough  with  both  of  these  geological  oxen,  and 
the  controversy  becomes  like  that  old  one  of  the  Neptunists 
and  Plutonists,  which  has  been  settled  by  admitting  both  water 
and  heat  to  have  been  instrumental  in  the  formation  of  rocks. 

In  the  midst  of  these  controversies  a  geologist  resident  in 
Great  Britain  or  Canada  should  have  some  certain  doctrine  as 
to  the  question  whether  at  that  period,  geologically  recent, 
which  we  call  the  Pleistocene  period,  the  land  was  raised  to  a 
great  height  above  the  sea,  and  covered  like  Greenland  with  a 
mantle  of  perpetual  ice,  or  whether  it  was,  like  the  strait  of 
Belle-Isle  and  the  banks  of  Newfoundland,  under  water,  and 
annually  ground  over  by  icebergs,  or  whether,  as  now  seems 
more  probable,  it  was  in  part  composed  of  elevated  ridges 
covered  with  snow  and  sending  down  glaciers,  and  partly  de- 
pressed under  the  level  of  ice-laden  straits  and  seas. 

A  great  advocate  of  the  glacier*  theory  has  saicl  that  we  can- 
not properly  appreciate  his  view  without  exploring  thoroughly 
the  present  glaciers  of  Greenland  and  ascertaining  their  effects. 
This  I  have  not  had  opportunity  to  do,  but  I  have  endeavoured 
to  do  the  next  best  thing  by  passing  as  rapidly  as  possible  from 
the  icebergs  of  Belle-Isle  to  the  glaciers  of  Mont  Blanc,  and  by 
asking  the  question  whether  Canada  was  in  the  Pleistocene 
period  like  the  present  Belle-Isle  or  the  present  Mont  Blanc, 
or  whether  it  partook  of  the  character  of  both  ?  and  taking  ad- 
vantage of  these  two  most  salient  points  in  order  to  elicit  a 
reply. 

Transporting  ourselves,  then,  to  the  monarch  of  the  Alps,  let 
us  suppose  we  stand  upon  the  Flegere,  a  spur  of  the  mountains 
fronting  Mont  Blanc,  and  commanding  a  view  of  the  entire 
group.  From  this  point  the  western  end  of  the  range  presents 
the  rounded  summit  of  Mont  Blanc  proper,  flanked  by  the 


356  THE   GREAT   ICE   AGE 

lower  eminences  of  the  Dome  and  Aiguille  de  Goute,  which 
rise  from  a  broad  and  uneven  plateau  of  neve  or  hard  snow, 
sending  down  to  the  plain  two  great  glaciers  or  streams  of  ice, 
the  Bossons  and  Tacony  glaciers.  Eastward  of  Mont  Blanc 
the  neve  or  snow  plateau  is  penetrated  by  a  series  of  sharp 
points  of  rock  or  aiguilles,  which  stretch  along  in  a  row  of 
serried  peaks,  and  then  give  place  to  a  deep  notch,  through 
which  flows  the  greatest  of  all  the  glaciers  of  this  side  of  Mont 
Blanc,  the  celebrated  Mer  de  Glace,  directly  in  front  of  our 
standpoint.  To  the  left  of  this  is  another  mass  of  aiguilles, 
culminating  in  the  Aiguille  Verte.  This  second  group  of 
needles  descends  into  the  long  and  narrow  Glacier  of  Argen- 
tiere,  and  beyond  this  we  see  in  the  distance  the  Glacier  and 
Aiguille  de  Tour.  As  seen  from  this  point,  it  is  evident  that 
the  whole  system  of  the  Mont  Blanc  glaciers  originates  in  a 
vast  mantle  of  snow  capping  the  ridge  of  the  chain,  and  extend- 
ing about  twenty  miles  in  length,  with  a  breadth  of  about  five 
miles.  This  mass  of  snow  being  above  the  limits  of  perpetual 
frost,  would  go  on  increasing  from  year  to  year,  except  so  far 
as  it  might  be  diminished  by  the  fall  of  avalanches  from  its 
sides,  were  it  not  that  its  plasticity  is  sufficient  to  enable  the 
frozen  mass  to  glide  slowly  down  the  valleys,  changing  in  its 
progress  into  an  icy  stream,  which,  descending  to  the  plain, 
melts  at  its  base  and  discharges  itself  in  a  torrent  of  white 
muddy  water.  The  Mont  Blanc  chain  sends  forth  about  a 
dozen  of  large  glaciers  of  this  kind,  besides  many  smaller  ones. 
Crossing  the  valley  of  Chamouni,  and  ascending  the  Montan- 
vert  to  a  height  of  about  6,000  feet,  let  us  look  more  particu- 
larly at  one  of  these  glaciers,  the  Mer  de  Glace.  It  is  a  long 
valley  with  steep  sides,  about  half  a  mile  wide,  and  filled  with 
ice,  which  presents  a  general  level  or  slightly  inclined  surface, 
traversed  with  innumerable  transverse  cracks  or  crevasses, 
penetrating  apparently  to  the  bottom  of  the  glacier,  and  with 
slippery  sloping  edges  of  moist  ice  threatening  at  every  step  to 


THE  GREAT  ICE  AGE  357 

plunge  the  traveller  into  the  depths  below.  Still  the  treacher- 
ous surface  is  daily  crossed  by  parties  of  travellers,  apparently 
without  any  accident.  The  whole  of  the  ice  is  moving  steadily 
along  the  slope  on  which  it  rests,  at  the  rate  of  eight  to  ten 
inches  daily — the  rate  of  motion  is  less  in  winter  and  greater  in 
summer  ;  and  farther  down,  where  the  glacier  goes  by  the  name 
of  the  Glacier  du  Bois,  and  descends  a  steeper  slope,  its  rapid- 
ity is  greater ;  and  at  the  same  time  by  the  opening  of  immense 
crevasses  its  surface  projects  in  fantastic  ridges  and  pinnacles. 
The  movements  and  changes  in  the  ice  of  these  glaciers  are  in 
truth  very  remarkable,  and  show  a  mobility  and  plasticity 
which  at  first  sight  we  should  not  have  been  prepared  to 
expect  in  a  solid  like  ice.1  The  crevasses  become  open  or 
closed,  curved  upwards  or  downwards,  perpendicular  or  in- 
clined, according  to  the  surface  upon  which  the  glacier  is  mov- 
ing, and  the  whole  mass  is  crushed  upward  or  flattens  out,  its 
particles  evidently  moving  on  each  other  with  much  the  same 
result  as  would  take  place  in  a  mass  of  thick  mud  similarly 
moving.  On  the  surface  of  the  ice  there  are  a  few  boulders 
and  many  stones,  and  in  places  these  accumulate  in  long 
irregular  bands  indicating  the  lines  of  junction  of  the  minor  ice 
streams  coming  in  from  above  to  join  the  main  glacier.  At  the 
sides  are  two  great  mounds  of  rubbish,  much  higher  than  the 
present  surface  of  the  glacier.  They  are  called  the  lateral 
moraines,  and  consist  of  boulders,  stones,  gravel  and  sand, 
confusedly  intermingled,  and  for  the  most  part  retaining  their 
sharp  angles.  This  mass  of  rubbish  is  moved  downward  by 
the  glacier,  and  with  the  stones  constituting  the  central  moraine, 

1  I  need  scarcely  say  that  I  adopt  the  explanation  of  glacier  motion 
given  by  Forbes.  "The  fuller  consideration  of  the  physical  properties  of 
glacier  ice  leads  essentially  to  the  same  conclusions  as  those  to  which 
Forbes  was  led  forty-one  years  ago  by  the  study  of  the  larger  phenomena 
of  glacier  motion,  that  is,  that  the  motion  is  that  of  a  slightly  viscous  mass, 
partly  sliding  upon  its  bed,  partly  shearingupon  itself  under  the  influence 
of  gravity." — Trotter,  Proc.  Royal  Society  of  London,  xxxviii.  107. 


358  THE   GREAT   ICE   AGE 

is  discharged  at  the  lower  end,  accumulating  there  in  the  mass 
of  detritus  known  as  the  terminal  moraine. 

Glaciers  have  been  termed  rivers  of  ice ;  but  there  is  one 
respect  in  which  they  differ  remarkably  from  rivers.  They  are 
broad  above  and  narrow  below,  or  rather,  their  width  above 
corresponds  to  the  drainage  area  of  a  river.  This  is  well  seen 
in  a  map  of  the  Mer  de  Glace.  From  its  termination  in  the 
Glacier  du  Bois  to  the  top  of  the  Mer  de  Glace  proper,  a  dis- 
tance of  about  three  and  a  half  miles,  its  breadth  does  not  ex- 
ceed half  a  mile,  but  above  this  point  it  spreads  out  into  three 
great  glaciers,  the  Geant,  the  Du  Chaud,  and  the  Talefre,  the 
aggregate  width  of  which  is  six  or  seven  miles.  The  snow  and 
ice  of  a  large  interior  tableland  or  series  of  wide  valleys  are 
thus  emptied  into  one  narrow  ravine,  and  pour  their  whole 
accumulations  through  the  Mer  de  Glace.  Leaving,  however, 
the  many  interesting  phenomena  connected  with  the  motion  of 
glaciers,  and  which  have  been  so  well  interpreted  by  Saussure, 
Agassiz,  Forbes,  Hopkins,  Tyndall,  and  others,  we  may  con- 
sider their  effects  on  the  mountain  valleys  in  which  they 
operate. 

1.  They  carry  quantities  of  debris  from  the  hill  tops  and 
mountain  valleys  downward  into  the  plains.    From  every  peak, 
cliff  and  ridge  the  frost  and  thaw  are  constantly  loosening 
stones  and  other  matters  which  are  swept  by  avalanches  to  the 
surface  of  the  glacier,  and  constitute  lateral  moraines.     When 
two   or  more   glaciers   unite  into  one,   these  become  medial 
moraines,  and  at  length  are  spread  over  and  through  the  whole 
mass  of  the  ice.     Eventually  all  this  material,  including  stones 
of  immense  size,  as  well  as  fine  sand  and  mud,  is  deposited  in 
the  terminal  moraine,  or  carried  off  by  the  streams. 

2.  They  are  mills  for  grinding  and  triturating  rock.     The 
pieces  of  rock  in  the  moraine  are,  in  the  course  of  their  move- 
ment, crushed  against  one  another  and  the  sides  of  the  valley, 
and  are  cracked  and  ground  as  if  in  a  crushing  mill.     Further 


THE   GREAT   ICE   AGE  359 

the  stones  on  the  surface  of  the  glacier  are  ever  falling  into 
crevasses,  and  thus  reach  the  bottom  of  the  ice,  where  they  are 
further  ground  one  against  another  and  the  floor  of  rock.  In 
the  movement  of  the  glacier  these  stones  seem  in  some  cases 
to  come  again  to  the  surface,  and  their  remains  are  finally  dis- 
charged in  the  terminal  moraine,  which  is  the  waste-heap  of 
this  great  mill:  The  fine  material  which  has  been  produced, 
the  flour  of  the  mill,  so  to  speak,  becomes  diffused  in  the  water 
which  is  constantly  flowing  from  beneath  the  glacier,  and  for 
this  reason  all  the  streams  flowing  from  glaciers  are  turbid  with 
whitish  sand  and  mud. 

The  Arve,  which  drains  the  glaciers  of  the  north  side  of 
Mont  Blanc,  carries  its  burden  of  mud  into  the  Rhone,  which 
sweeps  it,  with  the  similar  material  of  many  other  Alpine 
streams,  into  the  Mediterranean,  to  aid  in  filling  up  the  bottom 
of  that  sea,  whose  blue  waters  it  discolours  for  miles  from  the 
shore,  and  to  increase  its  own  ever-enlarging  delta,  which 
encroaches  on  the  sea  at  the  rate  of  about  half  a  mile  per 
century.  The  upper  waters  of  the  Rhone,  laden  with  similar 
material,  are  filling  up  the  Lake  of  Geneva;  and  the  great 
deposit  of  "  loess  "  in  the  alluvial  plain  of  the  Rhine,  about 
which  Gaul  and  German  have  contended  since  the  dawn  of 
European  history,  is  of  similar  origin.  The  mass  of  material 
which  has  thus  been  carried  off  from  the  Alps,  would  suffice  to 
build  up  a  great  mountain  chain.  Thus,  by  the  action  of  ice 
and  water — 

"  The  mountain  falling  cometh  to  naught, 
And  the  rock  is  removed  out  of  its  place." 

Many  observers  who  have  commented  on  these  facts  have 
taken  it  for  granted  that  the  mud  thus  sent  off  from  glaciers, 
and  which  is  so  much  greater  in  amount  than  the  matter 
remaining  in  their  moraines,  must  be  ground  from  the  bottom 
of  the  glacier  valleys,  and  hence  have  attributed  to  these 
18* 


360  THE   GREAT   ICE   AGE 

glaciers  great  power  of  cutting  out  and  deepening  their  valleys. 
But  this  is  evidently  an  error,  just  as  it  would  be  an  error  to 
suppose  the  flour  of  a  grist  mill  ground  out  of  the  mill  stones. 
Glaciers,  it  is  true,  groove  and  striate  and  polish  the  rocks  over 
which  they  move,  and  especially  those  of  projecting  points  and 
slight  elevations  in  their  beds ;  but  the  material  which  they 
grind  up  is  principally  derived  from  the  exposed  frost-bitten 
rocks  above  them,  and  the  rocky  floor  under  the  glacier  is 
merely  the  nether  mill  stone  against  which  those  loose  stones 
are  crushed.  The  glaciers,  in  short,  can  scarcely  be  regarded 
as  cutting  agents  at  all,  in  so  far  as  the  sides  and  bottoms  of 
their  beds  are  concerned,  and  in  the  valleys  which  the  old 
glaciers  have  abandoned,  it  is  evident  that  the  torrents  which 
have  succeeded  them  have  far  greater  cutting  power. 

The  glaciers  have  their  periods  of  advance  and  of  recession. 
A  series  of  wet  and  cool  summers  causes  them  to  advance  and 
encroach  on  the  plains,  pushing  before  them  their  moraines, 
and  even  forests  and  human  habitations.  In  dry  and  warm 
summers  they  shrink  and  recede.  Such  changes  seem  to  have 
occurred  in  bygone  times  on  a  gigantic  scale.  All  the  valleys 
below  the  present  glaciers  present  traces  of  former  glacier 
action.  Even  the  Jura  mountains  seem  at  one  time  to  have 
had  glaciers.  Large  blocks  from  the  Alps  have  been  carried 
across  the  intervening  valley  and  lodged  at  great  heights,  on  the 
slopes  of  the  Jura,  leading  the  majority  of  the  Swiss  and 
Italian  geologists  to  believe  that  even  this  great  valley  and  the 
basin  of  Lake  Leman  were  once  filled  with  glacier  ice.  But, 
unless  we  can  suppose  that  the  Alps  were  then  vastly  higher 
than  at  present,  this  seems  scarcely  to  be  physically  possible, 
and  it  seems  more  likely  that  the  conditions  were  just  the 
reverse  of  those  supposed,  namely,  that  the  low  land  was  sub- 
merged, and  that  the  valley  of  Lake  Leman  was  a  strait  like 
Belle-Isle,  traversed  by  powerful  currents  and  receiving  ice- 
bergs from  both  Jurassic  and  Alpine  glaciers,  and  probably 


THE  GREAT  ICE  AGE  361 

from  farther  north.  One  or  other  supposition  is  required  to 
account  for  the  appearances,  which  may  be  explained  on  either 
view.  The  European  hills  may  have  been  higher  and  colder, 
and  changes  of  level  elsewhere  may  have  combined  with  this  to 
give  a  cold  climate  with  moisture;  or  a  great  submergence 
may  have  left  the  hills  as  islands,  and  may  have  so  reduced  the 
temperature  by  the  influx  of  arctic  currents  and  ice,  as  to 
enable  the  Alpine  glaciers  to  descend  to  the  level  of  the  sea. 
Now,  we  have  evidence  of  such  submergence  in  the  beds  of 
sea-shells  and  travelled  boulders  scattered  over  Europe,  while 
we  also  have  evidence  of  contemporaneous  glaciers,  in  their 
traces  on  the  hills  of  Wales  and  Scotland  and  elsewhere,  where 
they  do  not  now  occur. 

I  have  long  maintained  that  in  America  all  the  observed 
facts  imply  a  climate  no  colder  than  that  which  would  have 
resulted  from  the  subsidence  which  we  know  to  have  occurred 
in  the  temperate  latitudes  in  the  Pleistocene  period,  and 
though  I  would  not  desire  to  speak  so  positively  about  Europe, 
I  confess  to  a  strong  impression  that  the  same  is  the  case  there, 
and  that  the  casing  of  glacier  ice  imagined  by  many  geologists, 
as  well  as  the  various  hypotheses  which  have  been  devised  to 
account  for  it,  and  to  avoid  the  mechanical,  meteorological,  and 
astronomical  difficulties  attending  it,  are  alike  gratuitous  and 
chimerical,  as  not  being  at  all  required  to  account  for  observed 
facts,  and  being  contradictory,  when  carefully  considered,  to 
known  physical  laws  as  well  as  geological  phenomena.1 

Carrying  with  me  a  knowledge  of  the  phenomena  of  the 
glacial  drift  as  they  exist  in  North  America,  and  of  the  modern 
ice  drift  on  its  shores,  I  was  continually  asking  myself  the 
question — To  what  extent  do  the  phenomena  of  glacier  drift 
and  erosion  resemble  these  ?  and  standing  on  the  moraine  of 
the  Bosson  glacier,  which  struck  me  as  more  like  boulder  clay 

1  Canadian  Naturalist,  vols.  viii.  and  ix.  Geological  Magazine,  Decem 
her,  1865. 


362  THE  GREAT   ICE  AGE 

than  anything  else  I  saw  in  the  Alps,  with  the  exception  of 
some  recent  avalanches,  I  jotted  down  what  appeared  to  me 
to  be  the  most  important  points  of  difference.  They  stand 
thus  : — 

1.  Glaciers  heap  up  their  debris  in  abrupt  ridges.     Floating 
ice  sometimes  does  this,  but  more  usually  spreads  its  load  in  a 
more  or  less  uniform  sheet.1 

2.  The  material  of  moraines  is  all  local.    Floating  ice  carries 
its  deposits  often  to  great  distances  from  their  sources. 

3.  The  stones  carried  by  glaciers  are  mostly  angular,  except 
where  they  have  been  acted  on  by  torrents.     Those  moved  by 
floating  ice  are  more  often  rounded,  being  acted  on  by  the 
waves   and   by  the   abrading  action  of  sand  drifted   by  cur- 
rents. 

4.  In  the  marine  glacial  deposits  mud  is  mixed  with  stones 
and  boulders.     In  the  case  of  land  glaciers,  most  of  this  mud 
is  carried  off  by  streams  and  deposited  elsewhere. 

5.  The  deposits  from  floating  ice  may  contain  marine  shells. 
Those  of  glaciers  cannot,  except  where,  as  in  Greenland  and 
Spitzbergen,  glaciers  push  their  moraines  out  into  the  sea. 

6.  It  is  of  the  nature  of  glaciers  to   flow  in  the  deepest 
ravines  they  can  find,  and  such  ravines  drain  the  ice  of  exten- 
sive areas  of  mountain  land.    Floating  ice,  on  the  contrary,  acts 
with  greatest  ease  on  flat  surfaces  or  slight  elevations  in  the  sea 
bottom. 

7.  Glaciers   must  descend   slopes  and  must  be  backed  by 
large  supplies  of  perennial  snow.     Floating  ice  acts  indepen- 
dently, and  being  water-borne  may  work  up  slopes  and  on 
level  surfaces. 

8.  Glaciers  striate  the  sides  and  bottoms   of  their  ravines 
very  unequally,   acting  with   great   force   and  effect  only  on 
those  places  where  their  weight  impinges  most  heavily.     Float- 

1  Under  floating  ice  I  include  floe,  pack,  and  bordage  ice  as  well  as 
bergs. 


THE   GREAT   ICE  AGE  363 

ing  ice,  on  the  contrary,  being  carried  by  constant  currents  and 
over  comparatively  flat  surfaces,  must  striate  and  grind  more 
regularly  over  large  areas,  and  with  less  reference  to  local 
inequalities  of  surface. 

9.  The   direction    of   the  striae  and  grooves  produced  by 
glaciers  depends  on  the  direction  of  valleys.     That  of  floating 
ice,  on  the  contrary,  depends  upon   the  direction  of  marine 
currents,  which  is  not  determined  by  the  outline  of  the  surface, 
but  is  influenced  by  the  large  and  wide  depressions  of  the  sea 
bottom. 

10.  When   subsidence  of  the  land  is  in  progress,  floating 
ice  may  carry  boulders  from  lower  to  higher  levels.     Glaciers 
cannot  do  this  under  any  circumstances,  though  in  their  pro- 
gress they  may  leave  blocks  perched  on  the  tops  of  peaks  and 
ridges. 

I  believe  that  in  all  these  points  of  difference  the  boulder 
clay  and  drift  on  the  lower  lands  of  Canada  and  other  parts  of 
North  America,  correspond  rather  with  the  action  of  floating 
ice  than  of  land  ice;  though  certainly  with  glaciers  on  such  land 
as  existed  at  the  different  stages  of  the  submergence,  and  these 
glaciers  drifting  stones  and  earthy  matter  in  different  directions 
from  higher  land  toward  the  sea.  More  especially  is  this  the 
case  in  the  character  of  the  striated  surfaces,  the  bedded  dis- 
tribution of  the  deposits,  the  transport  of  material  up  the 
natural  slope,  the  presence  of  marine  shells,  and  the  mechanical 
and  chemical  characters  of  the  boulder  clay.  In  short,  those 
who  regard  the  Canadian  boulder  clay  as  a  glacier  deposit,  can 
only  do  so  by  overlooking  essential  points  of  difference  between 
it  and  modern  accumulations  of  this  kind. 

I  would  wish  it  here  to  be  distinctly  understood,  that  I  do 
not  doubt  that  at  the  time  of  the  greatest  Pleistocene  submerg- 
ence of  Eastern  America,  at  which  time  I  believe  the  greater 
part  of  the  boulder  clay  was  formed,  and  the  more  important 
striation  effected,  the  higher  hills  then  standing  as  islands  would 


364  THE   GREAT   ICE  AGE 

be  capped  with  perpetual  snow,  and  through  a  great  part  of  the 
year  surrounded  with  heavy  field  and  barrier  ice,  and  that  in 
those  hills  there  might  be  glaciers  of  greater  or  less  extent. 
Further,  it  should  be  understood  that  I  regard  the  boulder 
clays  of  the  St.  Lawrence  valley  as  of  different  ages,  ranging 
from  those  of  the  early  Pleistocene  to  that  now  forming  in  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence ;  and  that  during  these  periods  great 
changes  of  level  occurred.  Further,  that  this  boulder  clay 
shows  in  every  place  where  I  have  been  able  to  examine  it, 
evidence  of  subaqueous  accumulation,  in  the  presence  of 
marine  shells  or  in  the  unweathered  state  of  the  rocks  and 
minerals  enclosed  in  it;  conditions  which,  in  my  view,  preclude 
any  reference  of  it  to  glacier  action,  except  possibly  in  some 
cases  to  that  of  glaciers  stretching  from  the  land  over  the  mar- 
gin of  the  sea,  and  forming  under  water  a  deposit  equivalent 
in  character  to  the  boue  gladare  of  the  bottom  of  the  Swiss 
glaciers.  But  such  a  deposit  must  have  been  local,  and  would 
not  be  easily  distinguishable  from  the  marine  boulder  clay.  It 
is  of  some  interest  to  compare  Canadian  deposits  with  those  of 
Scotland,1  which  in  character  and  relations  so  closely  resemble 
those  of  Canada  ;  but  I  confess  several  of  the  facts  lead  me  to 
infer  that  much  of  what  has  been  regarded  as  of  subaerial 
origin  in  that  country  must  really  be  marine,  though  whether 
deposited  by  icebergs  or  by  the  fronts  of  glaciers  terminating 
in  the  sea,  I  do  not  pretend  to  determine.2  It  must,  however, 
be  observed  that  the  antecedent  probability  of  a  glaciated  con- 
dition is  much  greater  in  the  case  of  Scotland  than  in  that  of 
Canada,  from  the  high  northern  latitude  of  the  former,  its 
hilly  and  maritime  character,  and  the  fact  that  its  present 

1  Journal  of  Geological  Society.     Papers  by  Jamieson,  Bryce,  Crosskey, 
and  Geikie. 

2  Geikie,  Trans.  Royal  Society  of  Edin.     Geikie  assigns  a  more  compli- 
cated structure  than  appears  to  be  present  in  Canada ;  but  there  are  Cana- 
dian equivalents  of  the  principal  glacial  periods  which  he  assumes. 


THE  GREAT  ICE  AGE  365 

exemption  from  glaciers  is  due  to  what  may  be  termed  excep- 
tional and  accidental  geographical  conditions  ;  more  especially 
to  the  distribution  of  the  waters  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  which 
might  be  changed  by  a  comparatively  small  subsidence  in  Cen- 
tral America.  To  assume  the  former  existence  of  glaciers  in  a 
country  in  north  latitude  56°,  and  with  its  highest  hills,  under 
the  present  exceptionally  favourable  conditions,  snow-capped 
during  most  of  the  year,  is  a  very  different  thing  from  assuming 
a  covering  of  continental  ice  over  wide  plains  more  than  ten 
degrees  farther  south,  and  in  which,  even  under  very  unfavour- 
able geographical  accidents,  no  snow  can  endure  the  summer 
sun,  even  in  mountains  several  thousand  feet  high.  Were  the 
plains  of  North  America  submerged  and  invaded  by  the  cold 
arctic  currents,  the  Gulf  Stream  being  at  the  same  time  turned 
into  the  Pacific,  the  temperature  of  the  remaining  North 
American  land  would  be  greatly  diminished ;  but  under  these 
circumstances  the  climate  of  Scotland  would  necessarily  be 
reduced  to  the  same  condition  with  that  of  South  Greenland 
or  Northern  Labrador.  As  we  know  such  a  submergence  of 
America  to  have  occurred  in  the  Pleistocene  period,  it  does  not 
seem  necessary  to  have  recourse  to  any  other  cause  for  either 
side  of  the  Atlantic.  It  would,  however,  be  a  very  interesting 
point  to  determine,  whether  in  the  Pleistocene  period  the 
greatest  submergence  of  America  coincided  with  the  greatest 
submergence  of  Europe,  or  otherwise.  It  is  quite  possible 
that  more  accurate  information  on  this  point  might  remove 
some  present  difficulties.  I  think  it  much  to  be  desired  that 
the  many  able  observers  now  engaged  on  the  Pleistocene  of 
Europe,  would  at  least  keep  before  their  minds  the  probable 
effects  of  the  geographical  conditions  above  referred  to,  and 
inquire  whether  a  due  consideration  of  these  would  not  allow 
them  to  dispense  altogether  with  the  somewhat  extravagant 
theories  of  glaciation  now  agitated. 

The  preceding  pages  give  the  substance  of  my  conclusions 


$66  THE   GREAT   ICE   AGE 

of  twenty-four  years  ago.  I  give  those  of  to-day  from  a  paper 
of  1 89 1,1  relating  to  Eastern  Canada  only  : — 

These  conclusions  have,  in  my  judgment,  been  confirmed, 
and  their  bearing  extended,  more  especially  by  the  researches 
of  Mr.  Chalmers,  who  has  shown  in  the  most  convincing  way 
that  glaciers  proceeding  from  local  centres  along  with  sea-borne 
ice,  may  have  been  the  agents  in  glaciating  surfaces  and  trans- 
porting boulders  in  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick.  Taken 
in  connection  with  the  observations  of  Dr.  Dawson  and  Mr. 
McConnell  in  the  Cordillera  region  of  the  west,  and  those  of 
Dr.  Bell,  Dr.  Ells,  Mr.  Low,  and  others  in  the  Laurentian 
country  north  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  in  the  Province  of 
Quebec,  we  may  now  be  said  to  know  that  there  was  not,  even 
at  the  height  of  the  glacial  refrigeration  of  America,  a  contin- 
ental ice  sheet,  but  rather  several  distinct  centres  of  ice  action, 
—one  in  the  Cordillera  of  the  West,  one  on  the  Laurentian 
V-shaped  axis,  and  one  on  the  Appalachians,  with  subordinate 
centres  on  isolated  masses  like  the  Adirondacks,  and  at  certain 
periods  even  on  minor  hills  like  those_  of  Nova  Scotia.  It 
would  further  seem  that,  in  the  west  at  least,  elevation  of  the 
mountain  ridges  coincided  with  depression  of  the  plains.  In 
Newfoundland  also,  it  would  appear  from  the  observations  of 
Captain  Kerr,  with  which  those  of  Mr.  Murray  are  in  har- 
mony,3 though  they  have  been  differently  interpreted,  that  the 
gathering  ground  of  ice  was  in  the  interior  of  the  island,  and 
that  glaciers  moved  thence  to  the  coasts,  but  principally  to  the 
east  coast,  as  was  natural  from  the  conformation  of  the  land 
and  the  greater  supply  of  moisture  from  the  Atlantic. 

The  labours  of  Murray  in  Newfoundland,  of  Matthew, 
Chalmers,  Bailey,  and  others,  in  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Bruns- 
wick, have  considerably  enlarged  our  knowledge  of  Pleistocene 
fossils,  showing,  however,  that  the  marine  fauna  is  the  same 

1  Supplement  to  4th  edition  of  "Acadian  Geology,"  1891. 
8  Trans.  Royal  Society  of  Canada,  vol.  i. 


THE   GREAT   ICE  AGE  367 

with  that  of  the  beds  of  like  age  in  the  St.  Lawrence  valley,  and 
with  the  existing  fauna  of  the  Labrador  coast  and  colder  por- 
tions of  the  Gulf  and  River  St.  Lawrence,  as  ascertained  by 
Prickard,  Whiteaves,  and  the  writer.  It  would  seem  that 
throughout  this  region,  the  60  feet  and  the  600  feet  terraces 
were  the  most  important  with  reference  to  these  marine 
remains,  and  that  their  chief  repository  is  in  the  Upper  Leda 
Clay,  a  marine  deposit  intermediate  between  the  Lower  and 
Upper  boulder  drift,  and  corresponding  to  the  interglacial  beds 
of  the  interior  of  America. 

The  general  conditions  of  the  period  may  be  thus  sum- 
marized : — 

In  this  district,  and  the  eastern  part  of  North  America 
generally,  it  is,  I  think,  universally  admitted  that  the  later 
Pliocene  period  was  one  of  continental  elevation,  and  probably 
of  temperate  climate.  The  evidence  of  this  is  too  well  known 
to  require  re-statement  here.  It  is  also  evident,  from  the  raised 
beaches  holding  marine  shells,  extending  to  elevations  of  600 
feet,  and  from  drift  boulders  reaching  to  a  far  greater  height, 
that  extensive  submergence  occurred  in  the  middle  and  later 
Pleistocene.  This  was  the  age  of  the  beds  I  have  named  the 
Leda  clays  and  Saxicava  sands,  found  at  heights  of  600  feet 
above  the  sea  in  the  St.  Lawrence  valley,  nearly  as  far  west  as 
Lake  Ontario. 

It  is  reasonable  to  conclude  that  the  till  or  boulder  clay, 
under  the  Leda  clay,  belongs  to  the  earliest  period  of  prob- 
ably gradual  subsidence,  accompanied  with  a  severe  climate, 
and  with  snow  and  glaciers  on  all  the  higher  grounds,  sending 
glaciated  stones  into  the  sea.  This  deduction  agrees  with  the 
marine  shells,  polyzoa,  and  cirripedes  found  in  the  boulder 
deposits  on  the  lower  St.  Lawrence,  with  the  unoxidized  charac- 
ter of  the  mass,  which  proves  subaqueous  deposition,  with  the 
fact  that  it  contains  soft  boulders,  which  would  have  crumbled 
if  exposed  to  the  air,  with. its  limitation  to  the  lower  levels  and 


368  THE  GREAT  ICE  AGE 

absence  on  the  hillsides,  and  with  the  prevalent  direction  of 
striation  and  boulder  drift  from  the  north-east.1 

All  these  indications  coincide  with  the  conditions  of  the 
modern  boulder  drift  on  the  lower  St.  Lawrence  and  in  the 
Arctic  regions,  where  the  great  belts  and  ridges  of  boulders 
accumulated  by  the  coast  ice  would,  if  the  coast  were  sinking, 
climb  upward  and  be  filled  in  with  mud,  forming  a  continuous 
sheet  of  boulder  deposit  similar  to  that  which  has  accumulated 
and  is  accumulating  on  the  shores  of  Smith's  Sound  and  else- 
where in  the  Arctic,  and  which,  like  the  older  boulder  clay,  is 
known  to  contain  both  marine  shells  and  driftwood.2 

The  conditions  of  the  deposit  of  "till"  diminished  in  intensity 
as  the  subsidence  continued.  The  gathering  ground  of  local 
glaciers  was  lessened,  the  ice  was  no  longer  limited  to  narrow 
sounds,  but  had  a  wider  scope,  as  well  as  a  freer  drift  to  the 
southward,  and  the  climate  seems  to  have  been  improved. 
The  clays  deposited  had  few  boulders  and  many  marine  shells, 
and  to  the  west  and  north  there  were  land-producing  plants 
akin  to  those  of  the  temperate  regions;  and  in  places  only 
slightly  elevated  above  the  water,  peaty  deposits  accumulated. 
The  shells  of  the  Leda  clay  indicate  depths  of  less  than  100 
fathoms.  The  numerous  Foraminifera,  so  far  as  have  been 
observed,  belong  to  this  range,  and  I  have  never  seen  in  this 
clay  the  assemblage  of  foraminiferal  forms  now  dredged  from 
200  to  300  fathoms  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence. 

I  infer  that  the  subsidence  of  the  Leda  clay  period  and  of 
the  interglacial  beds  of  Ontario  belongs  to  the  time  of  the  sea 
beaches  from  450  to  600  feet  in  height,  which  are  so  marked 
and  extensive  as  to  indicate  a  period  of  repose.  In  this  period 

1  Notes  on  the   Post-Pliocene       Canadian    Naturalist,   op.  cit. ;  also 
Paper  by  the  author  on    Boulder   Drift  at    Metis,    Canadian    Record  of 
Science,  vol.  ii.,  1886,  p.  36,  et  seq. 

2  For  references  see  "Royal  Society's  Arctic  Manual,"  London,  1875, 
op.  cit. 


THE   GREAT   ICE   AGE  369 

there  were  marine  conditions  in  the  lower  and  middle  St. 
Lawrence  and  in  the  Ottawa  valley,  and  swamps  and  lakes  on 
the  upper  Ottawa  and  the  western  end  of  Lake  Ontario.  It  is 
quite  probable,  nay,  certain,  that  during  this  interglacial  period 
re-elevation  had  set  in,  since  the  upper  Leda  clay  and  the 
Saxicava  sand  indicate  shallowing  water,  and  during  this  re- 
elevation  the  plant-covered  surface  would  extend  to  lower  levels. 

This,  however,  must  have  been  followed  by  a  second  subsi- 
dence, since  the  water-worn  gravels  and  loose,  far-travelled 
boulders  of  the  later  drift  rose  to  heights  never  reached  by  the 
till  or  the  Leda  clay,  and  attained  to  the  tops  of  the  highest 
hills  of  the  St.  Lawrence  valley,  1,200  feet  in  height,  and  else- 
where to  still  greater  elevations.  This  second  boulder  drift 
must  have  been  wholly  marine,  and  probably  not  of  long 
duration.  It  shows  no  evidence  of  colder  climate  than  that 
now  prevalent,  nor  of  extensive  glaciers  on  the  mountains  ; 
and  it  was  followed  by  a  paroxysmal  elevation  in  successive 
stages  till  the  land  attained  even  more  than  its  present  height, 
as  subsidence  is  known  to  have  been  proceeding  in  modern 
times. 

I  am  quite  aware  that  the  above  sequence  and  the  causes 
assumed  are  somewhat  different  from  those  held  by  many 
geologists  with  reference  to  regions  south  of  Canada ;  but  must 
hold  that  they  are  the  only  rational  conclusions  which  can  be 
propounded  with  reference  to  the  facts  observed  from  the 
parallel  of  45°  to  the  Arctic  Ocean. 

My  own  observations  have  been  chiefly  in  the  eastern  part 
of  North  America.  My  son,  Dr.  G.  M.  Dawson,  has  much 
more  ably  and  thoroughly  explored  those  of  the  west ;  and 
after  describing  the  immense  Cordilleran  ice  mass  which  ex- 
tended for  a  length  of  i,?.oo  miles  along  the  mountains  of 
British  Columbia  and  discharged  large  glaciers  to  the  north,  as 
well  as  to  the  west  and  south,  and  stating  his  reasons  for 
believing  in  that  differential  elevation  and  depression  which 


3/0  THE   GREAT   ICE  AGE 

caused  the  greatest  height  of  the  mountains  to  coincide  with 
the  greatest  depression  of  the  plains,  and  vica  -versa,  and  show- 
ing the  Cordilleran  glacier  must  have  been  separated  by  a 
water  area  from  that  of  the  Laurentide  hills  on  the  east,  thus 
concludes  : — 

"  It  is  now  distinctly  known,  as  the  result  of  work  done 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Canada,  and 
more  particularly  of  observations  by  the  writer  and  his  col- 
leagues, Messrs.  McConnel  and  Tyrrell,  that  the  extreme 
margins  of  the  western  and  eastern  glaciated  areas  of  the 
continent  barely  overlap,  and  then  only  to  a  very  limited 
extent,  while  the  two  great  centres  of  dispersion  were  entirely 
distinct.  For  numerous  reasons  which  cannot  be  here  entered 
into,  the  writer  does  not  consider  it  probable,  or  even  possible, 
that  the  great  confluent  glacier  of  the  north-eastern  part  of  the 
continent  extended  at  any  time  far  into  the  area  of  the  great 
plains ;  but  erratics  and  drift  derived  from  this  ice  mass  did  so 
extend,  and  are  found  between  the  49th  and  5oth  parallels, 
stranded  on  the  surface  of  moraines  produced  by  the  large 
local  glaciers  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Recognising,  however, 
the  essential  separateness  of  the  western  and  eastern  confluent 
ice  masses,  and  the  fact  that  it  is  no  longer  appropriate  to  desig- 
nate one  of  these  the  "  continental  glacier,"  the  writer  ventures 
to  propose  that  the  eastern  mer  de  glace  may  appropriately  be 
named  the  great  Laurentide  glacier,  while  its  western  fellow  is 
known  as  the  "  Cordilleran  glacier."  It  may  be  added  that 
there  is  good  evidence  to  show  that  both  the  Laurentide  and 
Cordilleran  glaciers  discharged  into  open  water  to  the  north." 

These  conclusions,  based  on  a  large  induction  of  facts 
applying  to  a  very  large  area  of  the  North  American  Continent, 
coincide  with  my  own  observations  in  the  east,  and  with  the 
inferences  deducible  from  the  present  condition  of  Greenland 
and  Arctic  America. 

When  extreme  glacialists  point  to  Greenland  and  ask  us  to 


THE  GREAT  ICE  AGE  371 

believe  that  in  the  Glacial  age  the  whole  continent  of  North 
America,  as  far  south  as  the  latitude  of  40°,  was  covered  with  a 
continuous  glacier,  having  a  wide  front,  and  thousands  of  feet 
thick,  we  may  well  ask,  first,  what  evidence  there  is  that  Green- 
land or  even  the  Antarctic  continent  is  at  present  in  such  a 
condition  ;  and,  secondly,  whether  there  exists  a  possibility 
that  the  interior  of  a  great  continent  could  ever  receive  so  large 
an  amount  of  precipitation  as  that  required.  So  far  as  present 
knowledge  exists,  it  is  certain  that  the  meteorologist  and  the 
physicist  must  answer  both  questions  in  the  negative.  In  short, 
perpetual  snow  and  glaciers  must  be  local,  and  cannot  be  con- 
tinental, because  of  the  vast  amount  of  evaporation  and  con- 
densation required.  These  can  only  be  possible  where  com- 
paratively Warm  seas  supply  moisture  to  cold  and  elevated  land, 
and  this  supply  cannot,  in  the  nature  of  things,  penetrate  far 
inland.  The  actual  condition  of  interior  Asia  and  interior 
America  in  the  higher  northern  latitudes  affords  positive  proof 
of  this.  In  a  state  of  partial  submergence  of  our  northern 
continents,  we  can  readily  imagine  glaciation  by  the  combined 
action  of  local  glaciers  and  great  ice  floes  ;  but  in  whatever 
way  the  phenomena  of  the  boulder  clay  and  of  the  so-called 
"  terminal  moraines  "  are  to  be  accounted  for,  the  theory  of  a 
continuous  continental  glacier  must  be  given  up. 

The  great  interior  plain  of  western  Canada,  between  the 
Laurentian  axis  on  the  east  and  the  Rocky  Mountains  on  the 
west,  is  seven  hundred  miles  in  breadth,  and  is  (fevered  with 
glacial  drift,  presenting  one  of  the  greatest  examples  of  this 
deposit  in  the  world.  Proceeding  eastward  from  the  base  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  the  surface,  at  first  more  than  4,000 
feet  above  the  sea  level,  descends  by  successive  steps  to  2,500 
feet,  and  is  based  on  Cretaceous  and  Laramie  rocks,  covered 
with  boulder  clay  and  sand,  in  some  places  from  one  hundred 
to  two  hundred  feet  in  depth,  and  filling  up  pre-existing  hollows, 
though  itself  sometimes  piled  into  ridges.  Near  the  Rocky 


372  THE  GREAT   ICE  AGE 

Mountains  the  bottom  of  the  drift  consists  of  gravel  not 
glaciated.  This  extends  to  about  one  hundred  miles  east  of 
the  mountains,  and  must  have  been  swept  by  water  out  of  their 
valleys.  The  boulder  clay  resting  on  this  deposit  is  largely 
made  up  of  local  debris,  in  so  far  as  its  paste  is  concerned.  It 
contains  many  glaciated  boulders  and  stones  from  the  Lauren- 
tian  region  to  the  east,  and  also  smaller  pebbles  from  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  so  that  at  the  time  of  its  formation  there 
must  have  been  driftage  of  large  stones  for  seven  hundred 
miles  or  more  from  the  east,  and  of  smaller  stones  from  a  less 
distance  on  the  west.  The  former  kind  of  material  extends  to 
the  base  of  the  mountains,  and  to  a  height  of  more  than  4,000 
feet.  One  boulder  is  mentioned  as  be'ng  42  x  40  x  20  feet  in 
dimensions.  The  highest  Laurentian  boulders  seen  were  at  an 
elevation  of  4,660  feet  on  the  base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
The  boulder  clay,  when  thick,  can  be  seen  to  be  rudely  strati- 
fied, and  at  one  place  includes  beds  of  laminated  clay  with 
compressed  peat,  similar  to  the  forest  beds  described  by 
Worthen  and  Andrews  in  Illinois,  and  the  so-called  interglacial 
beds  described  by  Hinde  on  Lake  Ontario.  The  leaf  beds  on 
the  Ottawa  river,  and  the  drift  trunks  found  in  the  boulder 
clay  of  Manitoba,  belong  to  the  same  category,  and  indicate 
in  the  midst  of  the  Glacial  period  many  forest  oases  far  to 
the  north,  having  a  temperate  rather  than  an  arctic  flora.  In 
the  valleys  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  opening  on  these  plains 
there  are  evidences  of  large  local  glaciers  now  extinct,  and 
similar  evidences  exist  on  the  Laurentian  highlands  on  the  east. 
A  recent  paper  of  Dr.  G.  M.  Dawson  on  the  Palaeography  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  illustrates  in  a  most  convincing  manner  the 
changes  which  have  occurred  in  the  Cordillera  of  North 
America,  and  the  differential  elevation  and  depression  which 
have  affected  its  climate  in  the  later  geological  periods.1 

Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  feature  of  the  western  drift  region 
1  Transactions  Royal  Society  of  Canada,  1890. 


THE   GREAT   ICE  AGE  373 

is  that  immense  series  of  ridges  of  drift  piled  against  an  escarp- 
ment of  Laramie  and  Cretaceous  -rocks,  at  an  elevation  of  about 
2,500  feet,  and  known  as  the  "  Missouri  Coteau."  It  is  in  some 
places  30  miles  broad  and  180  feet  in  height  above  the  plain 
at  its  foot,  and  extends  north  and  south  for  a  great  distance  : 
being,  in  fact,  the  northern  extension  of  those  great  ridges  of 
drift  which  have  been  traced  south  of  the  great  lakes,  and 
through  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey,  and  which  figure  on  the 
geological  maps  as  the  edge  of  the  continental  glacier — an 
explanation  obviously  inapplicable  in  those  western  regions 
where  they  attain  their  greatest  development.  It  is  plain  that 
in  the  north  it  marks  the  western  limit  of  the  deep  water  of  a 
glacial  sea,  which  at  some  periods  extended  much  farther 
west,  perhaps  with  a  greater  proportionate  depression  in  going 
westward,  and  on  which  heavy  ice  from  the  Laurentian  dis- 
tricts on  the  east  was  wafted  southwestward  by  the  arctic 
currents,  while  lighter  ice  from  the  Rocky  Mountains  was 
being  borne  eastward  from  these  mountains  by  the  prevailing 
westerly  winds.  We  thus  have  in  the  west,  on  a  very  wide 
scale,  the  same  phenomena  of  varying  submergence,  cold  cur- 
rents, great  ice  floes  and  local  glaciers  producing  icebergs,  to 
which  I  have  attributed  the  boulder  clay  and  upper  boulder 
drift  of  eastern  Canada.  In  short,  we  arrive  at  the  conclusion 
that  there  never  has  been  a  continental  glacier,  properly  so 
called,  but  that  in  the  extreme  Glacial  period  there  have  been 
great  centres  of  snow  and  glacial  action,  in  the  Cordillera  of 
the  west,  in  the  Laurentian  plateau  of  the  north,  and  in  the 
northern  Appalachians,  and  the  Adirondacks,  while  the  lower 
lands  have  been  either  submerged,  or  enjoying  a  climate  habit- 
able by  hardy  animals  and  plants. 

The  till  or  boulder  clay  has  been  called  a  "  ground  moraine," 
but  there  are  really  no  Alpine  moraines  at  all  corresponding  to 
it.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  more  or  less  stratified,  often  rests 
on  soft  materials  which  glaciers  would  have  swept  away,  some- 


374  THE   GREAT   ICE  AGE 

times  contains  marine  shells,  or  passes  into  marine  clays  in  its 
horizontal  extension,  and  invariably  in  its  embedded  boulders 
and  its  paste,  shows  an  unoxidized  condition,  which  could  not 
have  existed  if  it  had  been  a  subaerial  deposit.  When  the 
Canadian  till  is  excavated  and  exposed  to  the  air,  it  assumes  a 
brown  colour,  owing  to  oxidation  of  its  iron,  and  many  of  its 
stones  and  boulders  break  up  and  disintegrate  under  the  action 
of  air  and  frost.  These  are  unequivocal  signs  of  a  subaqueous 
deposit.  Here  and  there  we  find  associated  with  it,  and  es- 
pecially near  the  bottom  and  at  the  top,  indications  of  power- 
ful water  action,  as  if  of  land  torrents  acting  at  particular 
elevations  of  the  land,  or  heavy  surf  and  ice  action  on  coasts, 
and  the  attempts  to  explain  these  by  glacial  streams  have  been 
far  from  successful.  A  singular  objection  sometimes  raised 
against  the  subaqueous  origin  of  the  till  is  its  general  want  of 
marine  remains ;  but  this  is  by  no  means  universal,  and  it  is 
well  known  that  coarse  conglomerates  of  all  ages  are  generally 
destitute  of  fossils,  except  in  their  pebbles,  and  it  is  further  to 
be  observed  that  the  conditions  of  an  ice-laden  sea  are  not 
those  most  favourable  for  the  extension  of  marine  life,  and  that 
the  period  of  time  covered  by  the  glacial  age  must  have  been 
short,  compared  with  that  represented  by  some  of  the  older 
formations. 

It  follows  from  all  this  that  the  great  "  continental  moraine," 
which  the  United  States  Geological  Survey  has  now  "delineated 
for  several  thousand  miles  extending  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific,"  cannot  be  a  glacier  moraine,  but  must  be,  like  its 
great  continuation  northward,  the  Missouri  coteau,  a  margin 
of  sea  drift,  and  that  we  must  explain  the  whole  of  the  drift 
of  the  American  continent  by  the  supposition,  first,  of  a  period 
of  elevation  of  the  hills  and  subsidence  of  the  valleys  in  which 
there  were  great  accumulations  of  snow  on  the  Western  Cor- 
dillera ;  the  Laurentian  axis,  and  the  Appalachians  and  Adiron- 
dacks  radiating  in  every  direction  from  these  points,  while 


THE  GREAT  ICE  AGE  375 

minor  areas  of  radiation  may  have  temporarily  existed  on 
smaller  elevations  :  that  this  was  followed  by  a  period  of  more 
equal  level,  in  which  parts  of  the  low  grounds  were  clothed 
with  a  temperate  flora,  the  "  Interglacial  period "  so  called, 
succeeded  by  a  second  great  depression,  in  which  the  high  level 
boulders  of  the  second  boulder  drift  were  wafted  to  great  dis- 
tances by  floating  ice. 

The  late  Prof.  Alexander  Winchell,  a  man  who  did  not 
hesitate  to  express  his  convictions,  thus  bears  similar  testi- 
mony : — "  There  has  been  no  continental  glacier.  There  has 
been  no  uniform  southerly  movement  of  glacier  masses. 
There  has  been  no  persistent  declivity  as  a  sine  qua  non,  down 
which  glacier  movements  have  taken  place.  The  continuity  of 
the  supposed  continental  glacier  was  interrupted  in  the  regions 
of  the  dry  and  treeless  plains  of  the  west ;  and  in  the  interior 
and  Pacific  belts  of  the  continent  within  the  United  States, 
ancient  glaciation  was  restricted  to  the  elevated  slopes. M1  He 
might  have  added  that  the  St.  Lawrence  valley  was  submerged 
and  received  the  ends  of  Appalachian  and  Adirondack  glaciers 
on  the  south-east,  and  those  of  Laurentide  glaciers  on  the 
north-west. 

My  friend  Prof.  Claypole,  who,  however,  has  some  hesitation, 
fearing,  I  persume,  to  be  cast  out  of  the  synagogue  for  heresy, 
ventures  to  say,2  "  We  deduce  from  the  facts  and  arguments 
stated  above,  that  all  the  observations  of  glacial  action  in  the 
northern  hemisphere  are  explicable  by  assuming  the  existence 
of  enormous  and  confluent  3  glacier-systems  in  and  about  the 
high  lands  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  America,  which  high  lands  be- 
came, therefore,  glacial  radiants,  and  shed  their  load  of  ice  in  all 
directions  over  the  lower  adjacent  ground,  along  the  lines  of 

1  Nov.,  1890.  *  American  Geologist,  Feb.,  1889. 

3  The  term  "confluent "is  not  necessary  here.  The  glaciers  of  all 
mountain  chains  may  be  said  to  be  more  or  less  confluent  in  the  nev£, 
from  which  individual  glaciers  radiate. 

'9 


376  THE  GREAT   ICE  AGE 

easiest  flow ;  that  this  theory  does  no  violence  to  the  analogy 
of  the  existing  order  of  things,  requiring  merely  an  enlargement 
of  actual  glaciers  by  the  intensification  of  actual  conditions : 
that  abundant  evidence  can  he  obtained,  as,  for  example,  from 
Switzerland,  that  the  present  glacier  system  of  the  earth  was 
once  of  sufficient  magnitude  to  produce  all  the  observed 
phenomena ;  that  the  most  important  glacial  radiants  in  the 
northern  hemisphere  were,  in  North  America,  the  district 
round  Hudson  Bay,  New  England  and  the  Adirondacks,  with 
certain  areas  in  the  western  Cordilleras,  and  in  Europe  the 
Norwegian  Dovrefelds  and  the  Alps,  Asia  apparently  possess- 
ing none  of  commensurate  importance;  that  it  satisfactorily 
explains,  also,  the  previously  puzzling  absence  of  glacial  action 
over  the  great  plain  of  Siberia,  the  coldest  portion  of  the 
northern  temperate  zone  ;  that  the  belief  in  a  vast  polar  ice  cap, 
thousands  of  feet  thick,  covering  the  whole  Arctic  region,  and 
extending  almost  continuously  down  to  low  latitudes,  is  an  as- 
sumption doing  violence  to  observed  physical  facts  and  to 
probability,  that  it  is  not  required  to  account  for  the  pheno- 
mena, and  is,  in  fact,  contradictory  to  some  of  them." 

In  Europe  there  is  equally  good  evidence  of  the  existence  of 
huge  glaciers  on  the  Scandinavian  mountains  and  the  Alps, 
and  of  lesser  accumulations  of  ice  on  the  hills,  as,  for  instance, 
those  of  the  British  Islands ;  but  the  Scandinavian  boulders 
scattered  over  the  plains  of  Great  Britain  must  have  been 
water  borne.1 

In  connection  with  these  extracts  I  would  observe  that  the 
writer,  and  those  with  whom  he  has  acted  in  this  matter,  have 
never  held  that  icebergs  alone,  or  fields  of  ice  alone,  have  pro- 
duced the  Pleistocene  deposits.  Their  contention  has  been 
that  the  period  was  one  in  which  glaciers,  icebergs,  and  field 

1  The  reports  of  the  Scottish  boulder  committee,  and  Lapworth's  recent 
careful  examination  of  the  deposits  on  the  East  of  England  (Journ.  Geol. 
Soc.,  Aug.,  1891),  strongly  confirm  me  in  this  opinion. 


THE  GREAT   ICE  AGE  377 

ice  acted  together,  and  along  with  aqueous  agencies,  in  produc- 
ing the  complicated  formations  of  this  remarkable  age.  They 
have,  however,  objected  strenuously  to  the  sole  employment  of 
one  agent  to  the  exclusion  of  others,  and  to  attributing  to  that 
agent  powers  and  extension  which  obviously  could  not  belong 
to  it,  under  the  known  laws  which  regulate  the  movement  of 
glaciers  by  the  force  of  gravity,  and  the  precipitation  of 
moisture  in  the  form  of  snow  on  mountains  and  plateaus. 
These  laws  show  that  the  movement  of  glaciers  over  level 
surfaces,  or  against  the  slope  of  the  ground,  and  their  moving 
stones  otherwise  than  down  slopes,  are  physical  impossibilities, 
and  that  the  accumulation  of  snow  to  form  glaciers  can  take 
place  only  on  elevated  and  cold  land,  supplied  with  large 
quantities  of  vapour  from  neighbouring  water.  Such  accumu- 
lation can  under  no  imaginable  conditions  take  place  in  the 
interior  plains  and  table  lands  of  great  continents. 

Applying  these  laws  and  conclusions  to  the  whole  northern 
hemisphere,  we  learn  that  the  conditions  to  produce  a  glacial 
period  are  the  diversion  of  the  warm  currents  from  the  northern 
seas,  the  submergence  of  land  in  the  temperate  regions,  and 
its  invasion  by  cold  Arctic  water,  and  great  condensation  of 
snow  on  the  higher  lands.  Whether  this  condensation  has  a 
tendency  finally  to  rectify  the  state  of  affairs,  by  pressing  down 
the  mountains  and  elevating  the  plains,  we  do  not  know,  but  I 
should  imagine  that  it  has  not ;  for  the  high  lands  will,  in  the 
case  supposed,  be  lightened  by  denudation,  while  the  plains 
will  be  burdened  with  a  great  weight  of  deposit.  Perhaps  we 
should  rather  look  to  this  as  the  agency  for  depressing  and  sub- 
merging the  plains  and  elevating  the  hills,  and  suppose  some 
other  and  more  general  pressure  proceeding  from  the  great  sea 
basins,  to  effect  the  re-elevation  of  the  plains. 

These  questions  suggest  that  of  the  date  of  the  Glacial  period. 
This  subject  has  recently  been  discussed  by  Prestwich  and 
others,  with  the  result  that  there  is  no  purely  geological  ground 


378  THE   GREAT   ICE  AGE 

for  referring  the  Glacial  age  to  a  period  so  remote  as  that  advo- 
cated by  Croll  on  astronomical  grounds.  Claypole  has  recently 
discussed  the  matter  at  some  length,  and  in  a  temperate  spirit.1 
He  takes  the  rate  of  erosion  of  the  Niagara  gorge  as  a  measure, 
and  shows  that  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  as  described  by  Win- 
chell,  and  all  the  other  falls  and  river  gorges  in  North  America, 
give  similar  estimates,  which  are  confirmed  by  the  evidences  of 
lake  ridges,  of  the  rate  of  erosion,  and  of  the  conditions  of 
animal  and  plant  life.  The  whole  go  to  show  that  the  culmina- 
tion of  the  Glacial  age  may  have  occurred  less  than  10,000 
years  ago.  He  further  shows  that  the  differential  elevation  of 
Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario,  the  greater  ease  with  which  the  river 
could  cut  the  lower  part  of  its  ravine,  the  probability  that 
the  part  of  the  gorge  between  the  whirlpool  and  the  fall  was 
not  cut,  but  only  cleaned  out  in  modern  times,  and  the  possible 
greater  flow  of  water  in  the  early  modern  period,  all  tend  to 
shorten  the  time  required,  and  that,  as  Prestwich  has  inferred 
from  other  data,  and  the  writer  also  in  various  papers,  some  of 
them  of  old  date,  the  so-called  post-glacial  period,  that  of  the 
melting  away  of  the  ice,  may  come  within  8,000  to  10,000 
years  of  our  own  time.  Probably  the  first  of  these  figures  is 
the  nearest  to  the  truth,2  so  that,  geologically  considered,  the 
Glacial  age  is  very  recent. 

Still  another  question  of  great  cosmic  interest  relates  to  the 
possible  alternation  of  glacial  conditions  in  the  northern  and 
southern  hemispheres.  There  is  evidence  of  drift  in  the  south- 
ern part  of  South  America,  similar  to  that  in  the  north  ;  but  was 
it  deposited  at  the  same  time  ?  If  we  could  be  sure  that  it  was 
not,  many  difficulties  would  be  removed.  The  southern  hemi- 

1  Trans.  Edinburgh  Geol.  Soc.,  vol.  v.,  1888. 

2  Uphain,  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  experienced  of  the  Glacial  geolo- 
gists in  the  United  States,  in  a  recent  paper  on  the  causes  of  the  glacial 
period,  states  similar  conclusions,   and  adduces  the  evidence  of  Gilbert, 
Andrews,  Wright,   Emerson  and  others  in  the  same  sense. 


THE   GREAT   ICE  AGE  379 

sphere  is  at  present  emphatically  the  ocean  hemisphere ;  the 
northern,  the  land  hemisphere.  Perhaps  these  conditions  may 
be  capable  of  being  reversed,  in  which  case  the  periods  of  de- 
pression in  the  south  may  have  corresponded  with  those  of 
elevation  in  the  north.  One  thing  which  we  know  is,  that 
there  is  a  polar  ice  ring,  not  an  ice  cap,  for  we  do  not  know 
what  is  within  its  edges  at  the  South  Pole,  about  2,000  miles  in 
diameter,  and  this  in  the  only  circumstances  in  which  it  can 
exist,  namely,  surrounded  by  a  vast  ocean  furnishing  it  with 
abundant  aqueous  vapour.  We  also  know  that  from  this  ice 
ring  radiate  glaciers,  carrying  debris,  with  which  the  sea  bottom 
is  strown  half  way  to  the  equator.  If  continents  were  elevated 
out  of  the  Southern  Ocean,  we  should  probably  have  on  their 
surfaces  glacial  deposits  more  widespread  and  continuous  than 
any  remaining  on  the  continents  of  the  northern  hemisphere,  and 
like  some  of  them  thinning  out  to  a  terminal  edge  or  border, 
instead  of  a  terminal  moraine  like  that  of  a  glacier.1  Thus  we 
may  say  with  some  truth  that  the  southern  hemisphere  is  now 
passing  through  one  phase  of  the  Glacial  period. 

I  have  often  thought  that  in  the  southern  hemisphere  the 
condition  of  Kerguelen  Island  and  Heard  Island,  as  described 
in  the  reports  of  the  Challenger?  must  very  nearly  represent  the 
state  of  some  mountain  ranges  and  peaks  in  North  America 
in  the  Glacial  age.  Heard  Island,  in  S.  latitude  53°  2',  is  a 
mountain  peak  6,000  feet  high,  and  25  miles  in  length.  It 
sends  down  large  glaciers  to  the  seu.  In  its  larger  neighbour, 
Kerguelen,  the  glaciers  do  not  reach  the  sea ;  but  there  is  evi- 
dence that  at  one  time  they  did.  It  is  still  more  curious  that, 
m  Kerguelen  the  modern  ice  overlies  late  tertiary  deposits, 
holding  remains  of  large  trees,  indicating  a  more  continental 
condition  and  mild  climate  at  no  very  remote  period. 

1  This  is  now  admitted  by  Chamberlain  and  others  to  be  the  case  with 
the  oldest  boulder  clay  on  the  American  continent 
8  Vol.  i.  p.  370,  etc. 


380  THE   GREAT   ICE  AGE 

The  glaciers  of  Heard  Island  and  Kerguelen  have,  no  doubt, 
been  carrying  down  moraine  material  into  the  sea,  and  this  is 
certainly  done  on  a  still  greater  scale  by  those  of  the  Antarctic 
continent.  This  sends  off  bergs  which  fill  the  whole  ocean 
south  of  60°,  and  float  much  farther  north.  Some  of  them  have 
been  seen  2,000  feet  long  and  200  high,  and  though  most  of 
the  boulders  they  contain  are  necessarily  concealed,  yet  masses 
of  rock,  supposed  to  weigh  many  tons,  have  been  seen  on 
them.  The  whole  sea  bottom  off  this  continent,  as  far  south 
as  64°,  consists  of  blue  mud,  with  boulders  and  pebbles,  some 
of  them  glaciated,  and  farther  north  there  is,  as  far  as  47 
degrees  of  latitude,  a  considerable  percentage  of  drift  material, 
and  this  sometimes  in  depths  of  1,950  fathoms.  It  is  evident 
that,  if  large  areas  of  the  southern  hemisphere  were  elevated 
into  land,  we  should  have  phenomena  to  deal  with  not  much 
unlike  those  of  North  America  at  present. 

Perhaps  no  discussion  carries  with  it  more  of  warning  to 
geologists  to  exercise  caution  in  framing  theories  than  this  of 
the  great  ice  age ;  and  if  the  collapse  of  extreme  views  on 
this  subject  shall  have  the  effect  of  inducing  geologists  to  keep 
within  the  limits  of  well-ascertained  facts  and  sound  induction, 
to  adhere  to  the  Lyellian  doctrine  of  modern  causes  to  ex- 
plain ancient  phenomena,  and  to  bear  in  mind  that  most  great 
effects  involve  not  one  cause,  but  many  co-operating  causes,  it 
may  lead  to  consequences  beneficial  to  science ;  and  so,  emerg- 
ing from  the  cold  shadows  of  the  continental  glacier,  we  may 
find  ourselves  in  the  sunshine  of  truth. 

REFERENCES: — "Acadian  Geology,"  ist  ed.,  1855;  4th  ed.,  1892.  Ice- 
bergs of  Belle-Isle,  and  Glaciers  of  Mont  Blanc,  Canadian  Naturalist, 
1865.  "Notes  on  Pleistocene  of  Canada,"  Montreal,  1871.  Papers  at 
various  dates  in  the  Canadian  Naturalist  and  Canadian  Record  of 
Science.  "The  Ice  Age  in  Canada,"  Montreal,  1893.  Canadian  Pleis- 
tocene, London  Geological  Magazine,  March,  1883.  Flora  of  the 
Pleistocene,  Bulletin  of  Geological  Society  of  America,  vol.  i.,  1890, 
p.  311,  Dawson  and  Penhallow. 


CAUSES   OF  CLIMATAL   CHANGE. 


DEDICATED  TO 
DR.  T.  STERRY  HUNT,  F.R.S., 

WHOSE  WORK  IN 
THE  CHEMICAL  AND  COSMICAL  RELATIONS  OF  GEOLOGY 

IS  BEYOND  ALL  PRAISE, 
%  AND  IS  DESTINED  TO  COMMAND 

IN  THE  FUTURE 
EVEN  GREATER  ACCEPTANCE  THAN  IN  THE  PAST. 


VARIOUS  THEORIES  AS  TO  CHANGES  OF  CLIMATE — THE 
ASTRONOMICAL  THEORY  OF  CROLL — THE  GEOGRAPHICAL 
THEORY  OF  LYELL  —  OBJECTIONS  OF  A  GEOLOGICAL 
CHARACTER  TO  THE  FORMER — TESTIMONY  OF  GEOLOGY 
AND  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY  IN  FAVOUR  OF  THE  LATTER 


CHAPTER   XIV. 
CAUSES  OF  CLIMATAL   CHANGE. 

THE  subject  of  this  chapter  is  one  which  has  been  in  dis- 
pute ever  since  .1  began  to  read  anything  on  geology, 
nearly  sixty  years  ago.  It  ought  to  have  been  settled,  but  up 
to  to-day  one  finds  in  geological  works  and  papers — especially 
those  relating  to  the  Glacial  age — the  most  divergent  views  ; 
and  in  the  writings  of  men  not  geologists,  it  is  not  unusual  to 
find  exploded  theories  gravely  stated  as  established  facts  of 
science.  The  subject  is  one  which  I  cannot  hope  to  make 
interesting,  but  if  the  reader  will  wade  through  a  short  chapter, 
he  will  be  able  to  find  some  of  the  data  on  which  statements  on 
this  subject  in  other  papers  of  this  series  are  based. 

Mr.  Searles  V.  Wood,  in  an  able  summary  of  the  possible 
causes  of  the  succession  of  cold  and  warm  climates  in  the 
northern  hemisphere,  enumerates  no  fewer  than  seven  theories 
which  have  met  with  more  or  less  acceptance,  and  he  might 
have  added  an  eighth.  These  are  : — 

(1)  The  gradual  cooling  of  the  earth  from  a  condition  of 
original  incandescence. 

(2)  Changes  in  the  obliquity  of  the  ecliptic. 

(3)  Changes  in  the  position  of  the  earth's  axis  of  rotation. 

(4)  The  effect  of  the  precession  of  the  equinoxes,  along  with 
changes  of  the  eccentricity  of  the  earth's  orbit. 

(5)  Variations  in  the  amount  of  heat  given  off  by  the  sun. 

(6)  Differences  in  the  temperature  of  portions  of  space  passed 
through  by  the  earth. 


384  CAUSES   OF   CLIMATAL   CHANGE 

(7)  Differences  in  the  distribution  of  land  and  water  in  con- 
nection with  the  flow  of  oceanic  currents. 

(8)  Variations   in   the   properties   of  the  atmosphere  with 
reference  to  its  capacity  for  allowing  the  radiation  of  heat. 

Something  may  be  said  in  favour  of  all  these  alleged  causes  ; 
but  as  efficient  in  any  important  degree  in  producing  the  cold 
and  warm  climates  of  the  Tertiary  period,  the  greater  number 
of  them  may  be  dismissed  as  incapable  of  effecting  such  results, 
or  as  altogether  uncertain  with  reference  to  the  fact  of  their 
own  occurrence. 

(1)  That   the  earth  and  the  sun  have  diminished  in  heat 
during  geological  time  seems  probable  ;  but  physical  and  geolo- 
gical facts  alike  render  it  certain  that  this  influence  could  have 
produced   no   appreciable   effect,  even   in  the   times   of    the 
earliest  animals  and  plants,  and  certainly  not  in  the  case  of 
Tertiary  floras  or  faunas. 

(2)  The  obliquity  of  the  ecliptic  is  not  believed  by  astrono- 
mers to  have  changed  to  any  great  degree,  and  its  effect  would 
be  merely  a  somewhat  different  distribution  of  heat  in  different 
periods  of  the  year. 

(3)  Independently  of  astronomical  objections,  there  is  good 
geological  evidence  that  the  poles  of  the  earth  must  have  been 
nearly  in  their  present  places  from  the  dawn  of  life  until  now. 
From  the  Laurentian  upward,  those  organic  limestones  which 
mark  the  areas  where  warm  and  shallow  equatorial  water  was 
spreading   over  submerged  continents,  are  so  disposed  as  to 
prove  the  permanence  of  the  poles.     In  like  manner  all  the 
great   foldings  of  the  crust  of  the  earth  have  followed  lines 
which  are  parts  of  great  circles  tangent  to  the  existing  polar 
circles.     So,    also,  from  the  Cambrian  age  the  great  drift  of 
sediment  from  the  north  has  followed  the  line  of  the  existing 
Arctic  currents  from  the  north-east  to  the  south-west,  throwing 
itself,  for  example,  along  the  line  of  the  Appalachian  uplifts  in 
Eastern  America,  and  against  the  ridge  of  the  Cordilleras  in 
the  west. 


CAUSES   OF   CLIMATAL   CHANGE  385 

(4)  The  effects  of  change  of  eccentricity  and  precession  have 
been  so  ably  urged  by  Croll,  and  recently  by  Ball,  and  have  so 
strongly  influenced  the  minds  of  those  who  are  not  working 
geologists,  that  they  deserve  a  more  detailed  notice. 

(5)  The  heat  of  the  sun  is  known  to  be  variable,  and  the 
eleven  years'  period  of  sun  spots  has  recently  attracted  much 
attention   as   producing  appreciable   effects   on   the   seasons. 
There  may  possibly  be  longer  cycles  of  solar  energy ;  or  the 
sun  may  be  liable,  like  some  variable  stars,  to  paroxysms  of  in- 
creased energy.     Such  changes  are  possible,  but  we  have  no 
evidence  of  their  occurrence,  and  they  could  not  account  for 
periods  of  refrigeration  of  limited  duration   like  the  Glacial 
age. 

(6)  It  has  been  supposed  that  the  earth  may  have  at  dif- 
ferent  times   traversed   more   or  less  heated  zones  of  space, 
giving  alternations  of  warm  and  cold  temperature.     No  such 
differences  in  space  are,  however,  known,  nor  does  there  seem 
any  good  ground  for  imagining  their  existence. 

(7)  The  differences  in  the  form  and  elevation  of  our  conti- 
nents, and  in  the  consequent  distribution  of  surfaces  of  different 
absorbent  and  radiating  power,  and  of  the  oceanic  currents,  are 
known  causes  of  climatal  change,  and  have  been  referred  to  in 
these  papers  as  competent  to  account  for  many,  at  least,  of  the 
phenomena. 

(8)  Reference  has  already  been  made,  in  connection  with  the 
distribution   of  plants,    to   the   possibility   that   the  primeval 
atmosphere   was   richer   in  carbon  than  that  of  more  modern 
times,  and  that  this  might  operate  to  produce  diminution  of 
radiation,  and  consequent  uniformity  of  temperature ;  but  this 
cause  could  not  have  been  efficient  in  the  later  geological 
periods. 

There  may  thus  be  said  to  remain  two  theories  of  those 
enumerated  by  Wood,  to  which  more  detailed  consideration  may 
be  given,  namely,  numbers  four  and  seven,  which  may  be  named 


386  CAUSES   OF   CLIMATAL   CHANGE 

respectively  those  of  Croll  and  Lyell,  or  the  astronomical  and 
geographical  theories. 

The  late  Mr.  Croll  has,  in  his  valuable  work  "  Climate  and 
Time,"  and  in  various  memoirs,  brought  forward  an  ingenious 
astronomical  theory  to  account  for  changes  of  climate.  This 
theory,  as  stated  by  himself,  is  that  when  the  eccentricity  of 
the  earth's  orbit  is  at  a  high  value,  and  the  northern  winter 
solstice  is  in  perihelion,  agencies  are  brought  into  operation 
which  make  the  south-east  trade  winds  stronger  than  the  north- 
east, and  compel  them  to  blow  over  upon  the  northern  hemi- 
sphere as  far  as  the  Tropic  of  Cancer.  The  result  is  that  all 
the  great  equatorial  currents  of  the  ocean  are  impelled  into  the 
northern  hemisphere,  which  thus,  in  consequence  of  the  im- 
mense accumulation  of  warm  water,  has  its  temperature  raised, 
so  that  ice  and  snow  must,  to  a  great  extent,  disappear  from  the 
Arctic  regions.  In  the  prevalence  of  the  converse  conditions 
the  Arctic  zone  becomes  clad  in  ice,  and  the  southern  has  its 
temperature  raised. 

At  the  same  time,  according  to  Croll's  calculations,  the  ac- 
cumulation of  ice  on  either  pole  would  tend,  by  shifting  the 
earth's  centre  of  gravity,  to  raise  the  level  of  the  ocean  and 
submerge  the  land  on  the  colder  hemisphere.  Thus  a  sub- 
mergence of  land  would  coincide  with  a  cold  condition,  and 
emergence  with  increasing  warmth.  Facts  already  referred  to, 
however,  show  that  this  has  not  always  been  the  case,  but  that 
in  many  cases  submergence  was  accompanied  with  the  influx 
of  warm  equatorial  waters  and  a  raised  temperature,  this  ap- 
parently depending  on  the  question  of  local  distribution  of 
land  and  water ;  and  this,  in  its  turn,  being  regulated  not  always 
by  mere  shifting  of  the  centre  of  gravity,  but  by  foldings  occa- 
sioned by  contraction,  by  equatorial  subsidences  resulting  from 
the  retardation  of  the  earth's  rotation,  and  by  the  excess  of 
material  abstracted  by  ice  and  frost  from  the  Arctic  regions,  and 
drifted  southward  along  the  lines  of  arctic  currents.  This  drift- 


CAUSES   OF   CLIMATAL   CHANGE  387 

ing  must  in  all  geological  times  have  greatly  exceeded,  as  it 
certainly  does  at  present,  the  denudation  caused  by  atmospheric 
action  at  the  equator,  and  must  have  tended  to  increase  the 
disposition  to  equatorial  collapse  occasioned  by  retardation  of 
rotation.1 

While  such  considerations  as  those  above  referred  to  tend  to 
reduce  the  practical  importance  of  Mr.  Croll's  theory,  on  the 
other  hand  they  tend  to  remove  one  of  the  greatest  objections 
against  it — namely,  that  founded  on  the  necessity  of  supposing 
that  glacial  periods  recur  with  astronomical  regularity  in  geolo- 
gical time.  They  cannot  do  so  if  dependent  on  other  causes 
inherent  in  the  earth  itself,  and  producing  important  move1- 
ments  of  its  crust. 

Sir  Robert  Ball  has  in  a  recent  work  very  ingeniously  im- 
proved this  theory  by  showing  that  Croll  was  mistaken  in 
assigning  equal  amounts  of  heat  to  the  earth,  as  a  whole,  in 
the  periods  of  greater  and  less  eccentricity.  This  would  tend 
to  augment  the  effect  of  astronomical  revolutions  as  causes  of 
difference  of  temperature ;  but  has  no  bearing  on  the  more 
serious  geological  objections  to  the  theory  in  question. 

A  fatal  objection,  however,  to  Croll's  theory,  the  force  of 
which  has  been  greatly  increased  by  recent  discoveries,  is  that 
the  astronomical  causes  which  he  adduces  would  place  the 
close  of  the  last  Glacial  period  at  least  80,000  years  ago,  where- 
as it  is  now  certainly  known  from  geological  facts  that  the  close 
of  the  last  Glacial  period  cannot  be  older  than  about  an  eighth 
or  a  tenth  of  that  time.  This  difficulty  seems  to  have  caused 
the  greater  number  of  geologists,  specially  acquainted  with  the 
later  geological  periods,  to  regard  this  theory  as  quite  inapplic- 
able to  the  facts. 

1  Croll,  in  "Climate  and  Time,"  and  in  a  note  read  before  the  British 
Association  in  1876,  takes  an  opposite  view  ;  but  this  is  clearly  contrary  to 
the  facts  of  sedimentation,  which  show  a  steady  movement  of  debris  toward 
the  south  and  south-west. 


388  CAUSES   OF   CLIMATAL   CHANGE 

We  are  thus  obliged  to  fall  back  upon  the  old  Lyellian  theory 
of  geographical  changes,  with  such  modifications  as  recent  dis- 
coveries have  rendered  necessary.  Taking  this  as  our  guide, 
we  reach  at  once  the  important  conclusion  that  the  movements 
and  distribution  of  animals  and  plants,  however  dependent  on 
climate,  altitude  and  depth,  have,  when  regarded  in  connection 
with  geological  time,  been  primarily  determined  by  those  great 
movements  of  the  crust  of  the  earth  which  have  established 
our  islands,  continents  and  ocean  depths.  These  geographical 
changes  have  also  in  connection  with  animal  and  vegetable 
growth,  deposition  of  sediments  and  volcanic  ejections,  fixed 
even  the  stations,  soils  and  exposures  of  plants  and  animals. 
Thus,  subject  to  those  great  astronomical  laws  which  regulate 
the  temperature  of  our  planet  as  a  whole,  our  attention  may  be 
restricted  to  the  factors  of  physical  geography  itself.  We 
must,  however,  carry  with  us  the  idea  that  though  the  great 
continents  and  the  ocean  depths  may  have  been  fixed  through- 
out geological  time,  their  relative  elevations,  and  consequently 
their  limits,  have  varied  to  a  great  extent,  and  are  constantly 
changing. 

We  must  also  remember  that  something  more  than  mere 
cold  is  necessary  to  produce  a  glacial  period.  It  has  sometimes 
been  assumed  that  the  tendency  of  an  exceptionally  cold  winter 
would  necessarily  be  to  accumulate  so  great  a  quantity  of  snow 
and  ice,  that  these  could  not  be  removed  in  the  short  though 
warm  summer,  and  so  would  go  on  accumulating  from  year  to 
year.  Actual  experience  and  observation  do  not  confirm  this 
supposition.  In  those  parts  of  North  America  which  have  a 
long  and  severe  winter,  the  amount  of  snow  deposited  is  not  in 
proportion  to  the  lowness  of  the  temperature,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, the  greatest  precipitation  of  snow  takes  place  near  the 
southern  margin  of  a  cold  area,  and  the  snow  disappears  with 
great  rapidity  when  the  spring  warmth  sets  in.  Nor  is  there,  as 
has  been  imagined,  any  tendency  to  the  production  of  fogs  and 


CAUSES   OF   CLIMATAL  CHANGE  389 

mists  which  have  been  invoked  as  agencies  to  shield  the  snow 
from  the  sun.  In  North  America  the  melting  snow  is  ordinarily 
carried  off  as  liquid  water,  or  as  invisible  vapour,  and  the  sky  is 
usually  clear  when  the  snow  is  melting  in  spring.  It  is  only 
when  warm  and  moist  winds  are  exceptionally  thrown  upon  the 
snow-covered  land  that  clouds  are  produced  ;  and  when  this  is 
the  case,  the  warm  rain  that  ensues  promotes  the  melting  of  the 
snow.  Thus  there  is  no  possibility  of  continued  accumulations 
of  snow  on  the  lower  parts  of  our  continents,  under  any  imagin- 
able conditions  of  climate^  It  is  only  on  elevated  lands  in  high 
latitudes  and  near  the  ocean,  like  Greenland  and  the  Antarctic 
continent,  that  such  permanent  snow-clad  conditions  can  occur, 
except  on  mountain  tops.  Wallace  and  Wceickoff1  very  pro- 
perly maintain,  in  connection  with  these  facts,  that  permanent 
ice  and  snow  cannot  under  any  ordinary  circumstances  exist  in 
low  lands,  and  that  high  land  and  great  precipitation  are  neces- 
sary conditions  of  glaciers.  The  former,  however,  attaches 
rather  too  much  importance  to  snow  and  ice  as  cooling  agents ; 
for  though  it  is  true  that  they  absorb  a  large  amount  of  heat  in 
passing  from  the  solid  to  the  liquid  state,  yet  the  quantity  of 
snow  or  ice  to  be  melted  in  spring  is  so  small  in  comparison 
with  the  vast  and  continuous  pouring  of  solar  heat  on  the  sur- 
face, that  a  very  short  time  suffices  for  the  liquefaction  of  a  deep 
covering  of  snow.  The  testimony  of  Siberian  travellers  proves 
this,  and  the  same  fact  is  a  matter  of  ordinary  observation  in 
North  America. 

Setting  aside,  then,  these  assumptions,  which  proceed  from 
incorrect  or  insufficient  information,  we  may  now  refer  to  a  con- 
sideration of  the  utmost  importance,  and  which  Mr.  Croll  him- 
self, though  he  adduces  it  only  in  aid  of  the  astronomical  theory 
of  glacial  periods,  has  treated  in  so  masterly  a  manner,  as 

1  Von  Wceickoff  has  very  strongly  put  these  principles  in  a  Review  of 
Croll's  recent  book,  "Climate  and  Cosmology";  American  Journal  of 
Science,  March,  1886. 


390  CAUSES   OF  CLIMATAL  CHANGE 

really  to  give  it  the  first  place  as  an  efficient  cause.  This  is  the 
varying  distribution  of  ocean  currents,  in  connection  with  the 
differences  in  the  elevation  and  distribution  of  land.  The  great 
equatorial  current,  produced  by  the  action  of  the  solar  heat  on 
the  atmosphere  and  the  water,  along  with  the  earth's  rotation, 
is  thrown,  by  opposing  continental  shores,  northward  into  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  in  the  Gulf  Stream  and  Japan  current, 
giving  us  a  hot-water  apparatus  which  effectually  raises  the  tem- 
perature of  the  whole  northern  hemisphere,  and  especially  of 
the  western  sides  of  the  continents.  Mr.  Croll  imagined  that 
if  his  astronomical  causes  could,  to  ever  so  small  an  extent,  in- 
tensify the  action  of  these  currents,  or  their  determination  to 
the  north,  we  should  have  a  period  of  warmth,  while  a  similar 
advantage  given  to  the  southern  hemisphere  would  produce  a 
glacial  age  in  the  north.  But  this  requires  us  to  assume  what 
ought  to  be  proved  ;  namely,  that  the  position  of  aphelion,  and 
the  increase  or  decrease  of  eccentricity,  would  actually  so  swing 
the  equatorial  current  to  the  north  or  south.  It  further  requires 
us  to  assume — and  this  is  the  most  important  defect  of  the 
theory  —  that  no  change  occurs  in  the  distribution  of  land 
and  water ;  because  any  important  change  of  this  kind  might 
obviously  exert  a  dominant  influence  on  the  currents.  Let  us 
take  two  examples  in  illustration  of  this. 

At  the  present  time  the  warm  water  thrown  into  the  North 
Atlantic,  co-operating  with  the  prevalent  westerly  winds,  not 
only  increases  the  temperature  of  its  whole  waters,  but  gives  an 
exceptionally  mild  climate  to  western  Europe.  Still  the  counter- 
vailing influence  of  the  Arctic  currents  and  the  Greenland  ice, 
is  sufficient  to  permit  numerous  icebergs  to  remain  unmelted  on 
the  coast  of  Labrador  and  Newfoundland  throughout  the  sum- 
mer. Some  of  the  bergs  which  creep  down  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Strait  of  Belle-Isle,  in  the  latitude  of  the  south  of  England, 
actually  remain  unmelted  till  the  snows  of  a  succeeding  winter 
fall  upon  them.  Now  let  us  suppose  that  a  subsidence  of  land 


CAUSES   OF   CLIMATAL   CHANGE  391 

in  tropical  America  were  to  allow  the  equatorial  current  to  pass 
through  into  the  Pacific.  The  effect  would  at  once  be  to  re- 
duce the  temperature  of  Norway  and  Britain  to  that  of  Green- 
land and  Labrador  at  present,  while  the  latter  countries  would 
themselves  become  colder.  The  northern  ice,  drifting  down 
into  the  Atlantic,  would  not,  as  now,  be  melted  rapidly  by  the 
warm  water  which  it  meets  in  the  Gulf  Stream.  Much  larger 
quantities  of  it  would  remain  undissolved  in  summer,  and  thus 
an  accumulation  of  permanent  ice  would  take  place,  along  the 
American  coast  at  first,  but  probably  at  length  even  on  the 
European  side.  This  would  still  further  chill  the  atmosphere, 
glaciers  would  be  established  on  aVl  the  mountains  of  temperate 
Europe  and  America,  the  summer  would  be  kept  cold  by 
melting  ice  and  snow,  and  at  length  all  eastern  America  and 
Europe  might  become  uninhabitable,  except  by  Arctic  animals 
and  plants,  as  far  south  as  perhaps  40°  of  north  latitude.  This 
would  be  simply  a  return  of  the  glacial  age.  I  have  assumed 
only  one  geographical  change  ;  but  other  and  more  complex 
changes  of  subsidence  and  elevation  might  take  place,  with 
effects  on  climate  still  more  decisive.1 

We  may  suppose  an  opposite  case.  The  high  plateau  of 
Greenland  might  subside,  or  be  reduced  in  height,  and  the 
opening  of  Baffin's  Bay  might  be  closed.  At  the  same  time 
the  interior  plain  of  America  might  be  depressed,  so  that,  as 
we  know  to  have  been  the  case  in  the  Cretaceous  period,  the 
warm  waters  of  the  Mexican  gulf  might  circulate  as  far  north  as 
the  basins  of  the  present  great  American  lakes.  In  these  cir- 
cumstances there  would  be  an  immense  diminution  of  the 
sources  of  floating  ice,  and  a  correspondingly  vast  increase  in 
the  surface  of  warm  water.  The  effects  would  be  to  enable  a 

1  According  to  Bonney,  the  west  coast  of  Wales  is  about  12°  above  the 
average  for  its  latitude,  and  if  reduced  to  12°  below  the  average,  its  moun- 
tains would  have  large  glaciers.  So  near  is  England  even  now  to  a  glacial 
age. 


392  CAUSES   OF   CLIMATAL   CHANGE 

temperate  flora  to  subsist  in  Greenland,  and  to  bring  all  the 
present  temperate  regions  of  Europe  and  America  into  a  con- 
dition of  subtropical  verdure. 

It  is  only  necessary  to  add  that  we  actually  know  that 
changes  not  dissimilar  from  those  above  sketched  have  really 
occurred  in  comparatively  recent  geological  times,  to  enable  us 
to  perceive  that  we  can  dispense  with  all  other  causes  of  change 
of  climate,  though  admitting  that  some  of  them  may  have  occu- 
pied a  secondary  place.  This  will  give  us,  in  dealing  with  the 
distribution  of  life,  the  great  advantage  of  not  being  tied  up  to 
definite  astronomical  cycles  of  glaciation,  which  do  not  well 
agree  with  the  geological  facts,  and  of  correlating  elevation  and 
subsidence  of  the  land  with  changes  of  climate  affecting  living 
beings.  It  will,  however,  be  necessary,  as  Wallace  well  insists, 
that  we  shall  hold  to  a  certain  fixity  of  the  continents  in  their 
position,  notwithstanding  the  submergences  and  emergences 
which  they  have  experienced. 

Sir  Charles  Lyell,  more  than  forty  years  ago,  published  in 
his  "  Principles  of  Geology  "two  imaginary  maps,  which  illustrate 
the  extreme  effects  of  various  distribution  of  land  and  water. 
In  one,  all  the  continental  masses  are  grouped  around  the 
equator.  In  the  other  they  are  all  placed  around  the  poles, 
leaving  an  open  equatorial  ocean.  In  the  one  case  the  whole 
of  the  land  and  its  inhabitants  would  enjoy  a  perpetual  summer, 
and  scarcely  any  ice  could  exist  in  the  sea.  In  the  other,  the 
whole  of  the  land  would  be  subjected  to  an  Arctic  climate,  and 
it  would  give  off  immense  quantities  of  ice  to  cool  the  ocean. 
Sir  Charles  remarks  on  the  present  apparently  capricious  distri- 
bution of  land  and  water,  the  greater  part  being  in  the  northern 
hemisphere,  and,  in  this,  placed  in  a  very  unequal  manner. 
But  Lyell  did  not  suppose  that  any  such  distribution  as  that 
represented  in  his  maps  had  actually  occurred,  though  this 
supposition  has  been  sometimes  attributed  to  him.  He  merely 
put  what  he  regarded  as  an  extreme  case  to  illustrate  what 


CAUSES   OF   CLIMATAL   CHANGE  393 

might  occur  under  conditions  less  exaggerated.  Sir  Charles, 
like  all  other  thoughtful  geologists,  was  well  aware  of  the  gen- 
eral fixity  of  the  areas  of  the  continents,  though  with  great 
modifications  in  the  matter  of  submergences  and  of  land  con- 
ditions. The  union,  indeed,  of  these  two  great  principles  of 
fixity  and  diversity  of  the  continents  lies  at  the  foundation  of 
theoretical  geology. 

We  can  now  more  precisely  indicate  this  than  was  possible 
when  Lyell  produced  his  "Principles,"  and  can  reproduce  the 
conditions  of  our  continents  in  even  the  more  ancient  periods 
of  their  history.  An  example  of  this  may  be  given  from  the 
American  continent,  which  is  more  simple  in  its  arrangements 
than  the  double  continent  of  Eurasia.  Take,  for  instance,  the 
early  Devonian  or  Erian  period,  in  which  the  magnificent  flora 
of  that  age,  the  earliest  certainly  known  to  us,  made  its  appear- 
ance. Imagine  the  whole  interior  plain  of  North  America 
submerged,  so  that  the  continent  is  reduced  to  two  strips  on 
the  east  and  west,  connected  by  a  belt  of  Laurentian  land  on 
the  north.  In  the  great  mediterranean  sea  thus  produced, 
the  tepid  water  of  the  equatorial  current  was  circulated,  and  it 
swarmed  with  corals,  of  which  we  know  no  less  than  150  species, 
and  with  other  forms  of  life  appropriate  to  warm  seas.  On  the 
islands  and  coasts  of  this  sea  was  introduced  the  Erian  flora, 
appearing  first  in  the  north,  and  with  that  vitality  and  colonizing 
power  of  which,  as  Hooker  has  well  shown,  the  Scandinavian 
flora  is  the  best  modern  type,  spreading  itself  to  the  south.  A 
very  similar  distribution  of  land  and  water  in  the  Cretaceous 
age  gave  a  warm  and  equable  climate  in  those  portions  of  North 
America  not  submerged,  and  coincided  with  the  appearance  of 
the  multitude  of  broad-leaved  trees  of  modern  types  which  ap- 
peared in  the  middle  Cretaceous,  and  prepared  the  way  for 
the  mammalian  life  of  the  Eocene. 

We  have  in  America  ancient  periods  of  cold  as  well  as  of 
warmth.  I  have  elsewhere  referred  to  the  boulder  conglomer- 


394  CAUSES   OF   CLIMATAL   CHANGE 

ates  of  the  Huronian,  of  the  early  Lower  Silurian,  and  of  the 
Millstone  grit  period  of  the  Carboniferous  ;  but  I  have  not  ven- 
tured to  affirm  that  either  of  these  periods  was  comparable  in 
its  cold  with  the  later  glacial  age,  still  less  with  that  imaginary 
age  of  continental  glaciation,  assumed  by  the  more  extreme 
theorists.  We  know  that  these  ancient  conglomerates  were 
produced  by  floating  ice,  and  this  at  periods  when  in  areas  not 
very  remote,  temperate  floras  and  faunas  could  flourish.  The 
glacial  periods  of  our  old  continent  occurred  in  times  when  the 
surface  of  the  submerged  land  was  opened  up  to  the  northern 
currents  drifting  over  it  mud  and  sand  and  stones,  and  render- 
ing nugatory,  in  so  far,  at  least,  as  the  bottom  of  the  sea  was 
concerned,  the  effects  of  the  superficial  warm  streams.  Some 
of  these  beds  are  also  peculiar  to  the  eastern  margin  of  the 
continent,  and  indicate  ice  drift  along  the  Atlantic  coast  much 
as  at  present,  while  conditions  of  greater  warmth  existed  in  the 
interior.  Even  in  the  more  recent  glacial  age,  while  the  moun- 
tains were  covered  with  snow,  and  the  low  lands  submerged 
under  a  sea  laden  with  ice,  there  were  interior  tracts  in  some- 
what high  latitudes  of  America  in  which  hardy  forest  trees  and 
herbaceous  plants  flourished  abundantly,  and  these  were  by  no 
means  exceptional  "  interglacial "  periods.  Thus  we  can  prove 
that  from  the  remote  Huronian  period  to  the  Tertiary,  the 
American  land  occupied  the  same  position  as  at  present,  and 
that  its  changes  were  merely  changes  of  relative  level,  as  com- 
pared with  the  sea  ;  but  which  so  influenced  the  ocean  currents 
as  to  cause  great  vicissitudes  of  climate. 

Uniformitarian  geologists  have  recently  been  taunted  with  a 
willingness  to  assume  great  and  frequent  elevations  and  sub- 
mergences of  continents,  as  if  this  were  contrary  to  their 
principle.  But  rational  uniformitarianism  allows  us  to  use  any 
cause  of  whose  operation  in  the  past  there  is  good  geological 
evidence,  and  Lyell  himself  was  perfectly  aware  of  this. 

While  no  geologists  can  fail  to  appreciate  the  evidence  of 


CAUSES   OF   CLIMATAL   CHANGE  395 

the  power  of  geographical  change  in  affecting  climatal  change, 
and  the  fact  that  such  change  has  occurred  at  various  geo- 
logical periods,  there  are  some,  and  especially  those  who  take 
extreme  views  as  to  the  latest  period  of  cold  climate,  who 
doubt  its  sufficiency  to  account  for  all  the  phenomena  ob- 
served. It  is  instructive,  however,  to  notice  that  some  of 
the  ablest  of  these,  in  default  of  other  probable  causes,  are 
driven  to  fall  back  either  on  agencies  of  a  wholly  improbable 
character,  or  to  give  up  the  problem  as  insoluble.  Two  recent 
examples  of  this  deserve  citation. 

The  late  Dr.  Newmayr,  of  Vienna,  a  veteran  physical  geo- 
grapher, in  an  able  discussion  of  the  climates  of  past  ages, 
one  of  his  last  scientific  papers,  has  fallen  back  on  the  hypo- 
thesis of  a  change  in  the  position  of  the  poles.1  His  failure 
to  account  for  ancient  climates  by  other  causes  evidently, 
however,  depends  on  an  inadequate  conception  of  the  effects 
of  geographical  changes,  along  with  serious  misconceptions 
as  to  the  distribution  of  plants  and  the  characters  of  vege- 
tation at  different  periods.  These  points  we  shall  have  to 
discuss  in  subsequent  pages. 

In  an  address  before  the  American  Association,  in  1886, 
Dr.  Chamberlain,  one  of  the  ablest  American  authorities  on 
the  Glacial  period,  makes  the  following  remarks  as  to  the 
causes  of  the  Pleistocene  cold  : — 

"If  we  turn  to  the  broader  speculations  respecting  the 
origin  of  the  Glacial  epoch,  we  find  our  wealth  little  increased. 
We  have  on  hand  practically  the  same  old  stock  of  hypotheses, 
all  badly  damaged  by  the  deluge  of  recent  facts.  The  earlier 
theory  of  northern  elevation  has  been  rendered  practically 
valueless;  and  the  various  astronomical  hypotheses  seem  to 
be  the  worse  for  the  increased  knowledge  of  the  distribution 
of  the  ancient  ice  sheet.  Even  the  ingenious  theory  of  Croll 

1  Society  for  Dissemination  of  Natural  Science.     Vienna,  January,  1889. 


396  CAUSES   OF   CL1MATAL   CHANGE 

becomes  increasingly  unsatisfactory  as  the  phenomena  are 
developed  into  fuller  appreciation.  The  more  we  consider 
the  asymmetry  of  the  ice  distribution  in  latitude  and  longitude, 
and  its  disparity  in  elevation,  the  more  difficult  it  becomes 
to  explain  the  phenomena  upon  any  astronomical  basis.  If 
we  were  at  liberty  to  disregard  the  considerations  forced  upon 
us  by  physicists  and  astronomers,  and  permit  ourselves  simply 
to  follow  freely  the  apparent  leadings  of  the  phenomena,  it 
appears  at  this  hour  as  though  we  should  be  led  upon  an  old 
and  forbidden  trail,  — the  hypothesis  of  a  wandering  pole.  It 
is  admitted  that  there  is  a  vera  causa  in  elevations  and  de- 
pressions of  the  earth's  crust,  but  it  is  held  inadequate.  It 
is  admitted  that  the  apparent  changes  of  latitude  shown  by 
the  determinations  of  European  and  American  observatories 
are  remarkable,  but  their  trustworthiness  is  challenged.  Were 
there  no  barriers  against  free  hypotheses  in  this  direction, 
•  glacial  phenomena  could  apparently  find  adequate  explanation  ; 
but  debarred — as  we  doubtless  should  consider  ourselves  to 
be  at  present — from  this  resource,  our  hypotheses  remain 
inharmonious  with  the  facts,  and  the  riddle  remains  unsolved." 

It  should  be  observed  here  that  the  unsolved  "  riddle  "  is 
that  of  a  continental  ice  sheet.  This,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
is  probably  insoluble  in  any  way,  but  fortunately  needs  no 
solution,  being  merely  imaginary.  If  we  adopt  a  moderate 
view  as  to  the  actual  conditions  of  the  Pleistocene,  the  geo- 
graphical theory  will  be  found  quite  sufficient  to  account  for 
the  facts. 

Let  it  be  observed  here  also,  in  connection  with  the  above 
thoughtful  and  frank  avowal  of  one  of  the  ablest  of  American 
glacialists,  that  the  geographical  theory  provides  for  that 
"  asymmetry  "'or  irregular  distribution  of  glacial  deposits  to 
which  he  refers ;  since,  at  every  stage  of  continental  elevation 
and  depression,  there  must  have  been  local  changes  of  cir- 
cumstances; and  the  same  inequality  of  temperature  in  identical 


CAUSES   OF   CLIMATAL  CHANGE  397 

latitudes  which  we  observe  at  present  must  have  existed,  prob- 
ably in  a  greater  degree,  in  the  Glacial  age. 

The  sufficiency  of  the  Lyellian  theory  to  account  for  the 
facts,  in  so  far  as  plants  are  concerned,  may,  indeed,  be 
inferred  from  the  course  of  the  isothermal  lines  at  present. 
The  south  end  of  Greenland  is  on  the  latitude  of  Christiania, 
in  Norway,  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  Fort  Liard,  in  the  Peace 
River  region,  on  the  other ;  and  while  Greenland  is  clad  in 
ice  and  snow,  wheat  and  other  grains,  and  the  ordinary  trees 
of  temperate  climates,  grow  at  the  latter  places.  It  is  evident, 
therefore,  that  only  exceptionally  unfavourable  circumstances 
prevent  the  Greenland  area  from  still  possessing  a  temperate 
flora,  and  these  unfavourable  circumstances  possibly  tell  even 
on  the  localities  with  which  we  have  compared  it.  Further, 
the  mouth  of  the  McKenzie  River  is  in  the  same  latitude 
with  Disco,  near  which  are  some  of  the  most  celebrated 
localities  of  fossil  Cretaceous  and  Tertiary  plants.  Yet  the 
mouth  of  the  McKenzie  River  enjoys  a  much  more  favourable 
climate,  and  has  a  much  more  abundant  flora  than  Disco. 
If  North  Greenland  were  submerged,  and  low  land  reaching 
to  the  south  terminated  at  Disco,  and  if  from  any  cause  either 
the  cold  currents  of  Baffin's  Bay  were  arrested,  or  additional 
warm  water  thrown  into  the  North  Atlantic  by  the  Gulf 
Stream,  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  a  mean  temperature  of 
45°  Fahrenheit  from  prevailing  at  Disco;  and  the  estimate 
ordinarily  formed  of  the  requirements  of  its  extinct  floras  is 
50°,  which  is  probably  above,  rather  than  below,  the  actual 
temperature  required. 

We  thus  know  that  the  present  distribution  of  land  and 
water  greatly  influences  climate,  more  especially  by  affecting 
that  of  the  ocean  currents  and  of  the  winds,  and  by  the 
different  action  of  land  as  compared  with  water  in  the  recep- 
tion and  radiation  of  heat.  The  present  distribution  of  land 
gives  a  large  predominance  to  the  Arctic  and  sub- Arctic  regions, 


398  CAUSES   OF   CLTMATAL   CHANGE 

as  compared  with  the  equatorial  and  with  the  Antarctic ;  and 
we  might  readily  imagine  other  distributions  that  would  give 
very  different  results.  But  this  is  not  an  imaginary  case,  for 
we  can  to  some  extent  restore,  on  geological  grounds,  the 
ancient  geography  of  large  regions,  and  can  show  that  it  has 
been  very  different  from  that  prevailing  at  present.  We 
know  also  that,  while  the  forms  and  positions  of  the  great 
continents  have  been  fixed  from  a  very  early  date,  they  have 
experienced  many  great  submergences  and  re-elevations,  and 
that  these  have  occurred  in  somewhat  regular  sequence,  as 
evidenced  by  the  cyclical  alternations  of  organic  limestones 
and  earthy  sediments  in  the  successive  great  geological  periods, 
each  of  which,  as  may  be  seen  in  any  geological  text  book, 
presents  a  dip  of  the  continental  plateaus,  with  subsequent 
elevation,  as  if  the  land  was  subject  to  a  series  of  regular 
pulsations.1 

Finally,  the  Lyellian  theory  tends  to  abate  the  tendency  to 
imagine  portentous  and  impossible  climatal  changes;  and  it 
inclines  geologists  to  give  more  attention  to  the  connection 
of  palaeo-geography  .with  changes  in  the  life  history  of  the 
earth. 

REFERENCES: — "Acadian  Geology,"  ist  ed.,  1855  ;  4th  ed.,  1892.  Ice- 
bergs of  Belle-Isle,  and  Glaciers  of  Mont  Blanc,  Canadian  Naturalist, 
1865.  "Notes  on  Pleistocene  of  Canada,"  Montreal,  1871.  Papers 
at  various  dates  in  the  Canadian  Naturalist  and  Canadian  Record  of 
Science.  "  The  Ice  Age  in  Canada,"  Montreal,  1892.  Canadian 
Pleistocene,  London  Geological  Magazine,  March,  1883.  Flora  of 
the  Pleistocene,  Dawson  and  Penhallow.  Bulletin  of  Geological 
Society  of  America^  vol.  i.,  1890,  p.  311. 


See  "Acadian  Geology" — Introduction  to  the  Carboniferous  System. 


THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  ANIMALS  AND  PLANTS 

AS  RELATED  TO  GEOGRAPHICAL  AND  GEOLOGICAL 

CHANGES. 

DEDICATED  TO  THE  MEMORY  OF  MY  LATE  FRIEND, 

MR.  GWYN  JEFFRIES, 
WHO  SO  ABLY  INVESTIGATED  THE  DISTRIBUTION 

OF  OCEANIC  MOLLUSKA, 
MORE  ESPECIALLY  IN  THE  NORTH  ATLANTIC 


CHANGES  OF  CLIMATE  AND  OF  LAND  AND  WATER  WITH 
REFERENCE  TO  DISTRIBUTION  OF  LIFE  —  REGIONS  OF 
THE  CONTINENTS — INSULAR  FAUNAS  AND  FLORAS — 
THEIR  HISTORY — APPLICATIONS  TO  GEOLOGY  AND  TO 
MAN — GEOLOGICAL  TIME — THEORIES  OF  INTRODUCTION 
AND  MIGRATION 


VERTEBRATA 


PALEOZOIC     MESOZOIC      KAINOZOIC         MODERN 


INVERTEBRATA. 


PALEOZOIC     MESOZOIC     KAINQZOIC         MODERN 


1          6 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  ANIMALS  IN  TIME.     (p.  420.) 
Vertebra/a.  —  i,  Ganoid  Fishes;  2,  Teliort  Fishes;  3,  Batrachians ;  4, 

Reptiles;  5,  Birds;  6,  Mammals. 

Invertebrata.—  i,  Trilobites,  etc. ;  2,  Worms  ;  3,  Bivalve  and  Univalve 

Shellfishes;  4,  Nautiloid  Shellfishes  ;  5,  Cuttlefishes;  6,  Brachiopods. 
It  will  be  noticed  that  Nos.  2  and  5  in  the  first  table,  and  3  and  5  in  the 

second,  follow  a  different  order  of  curve  from  the  others,  indicating  their 

exceptional  culmination  in  modern  times. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  ANIMALS  AND  PLANTS 

AS  RELATED    TO   GEOGRAPHICAL  AND 

GEOLOGICAL   CHANGES. 

A^L  are  now  agreed  that  to  explain  the  extraordinary  and 
often  apparently  anomalous  distribution  of  animals  and 
plants  over  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  the  occurrence  of 
like  forms  in  very  distant  localities,  and  even  on  islands 
separated  by  vast  stretches  of  ocean  from  one  another  and 
from  the  continents,  we  must  invoke  the  aid  of  geology.  We 
must  have  reference  to  those  changes  of  climate  and  of  eleva- 
tion which  have  occurred  in  the  more  recent  periods  of  the 
earth's  history,  and  must  carry  with  us  the  idea,  at  first  not 
apparently  very  reasonable,  that  living  beings  have  existed 
much  longer  than  many  of  the  lands  which  they  inhabit, 
or  at  least  than  the  present  state  of  those  lands  in  reference 
to  isolation  or  continental  connection.  To  what  extent  we 
may  further  require  to  call  in  the  aid  of  varietal  or  specific 
modification  to  explain  the  facts,  may  be  more  doubtful ;  and 
I  think  we  shall  find  that  a  larger  acquaintance  with  geological 
truths  would  enable  us  to  dispense  with  the  aid  of  hypotheses 
of  evolution,  at  least  in  so  far  as  the  local  establishment  ot 
new  generic  and  specific  types  is  concerned. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  and  startling  results  of  geo- 
logical investigation,  and  one  which  must  be  accepted  as  an 
established  fact,  independently  of  all  theoretical  explanations, 
is  that  the  earth  has  experienced  enormous  revolutions  of 


402   THE   DISTRIBUTION    OF   ANIMALS   AND   PLANTS 

climate  within  comparatively  late  periods,  and  since  the  date 
of  the  introduction  of  many  existing  species  of  animals  and 
plants.  To  this  great  truth,  in  some  of  its  bearings,  I  have 
endeavoured  to  direct  attention  in  the  previous  articles.  In 
the  present  case  it  will  be  necessary  to  consider  these  vicis- 
situdes in  their  more  general  aspects,  and  with  some  reference 
to  their  effects  on  the  distribution  of  living  beings. 

The  modern  or  human  period  of  geology,  that  in  which 
man  and  his  contemporaries  are  certainly  known  to  have 
inhabited  the  earth,  was  immediately  preceded  by  an  age  of 
climatal  refrigeration  known  as  the  Glacial  or  Ice  age.  This 
was  further  characterized  not  only  by  a  prevalence  of  cold, 
unexampled  so  far  as  known  either  before  or  since,  but  by 
immense  changes  of  the  relative  levels  of  sea  and  land, 
amounting,  in  some  cases,  at  least,  to  several  thousands  of 
feet.  The  occurrence  of  these  changes  is  clearly  proved  by 
the  undoubted  traces  of  the  action  of  ice,  whether  land  ice  or 
floating  ice,  on  all  parts  of  our  continents,  half  way  to  the 
equator,  and  by  the  occurrence  of  sea  terraces  and  modern 
marine  shells  at  high  levels  on  mountains  and  table-lands. 
Perhaps  we  scarcely  realize  as  we  should  the  stupendous 
character  of  the  changes  involved  in  the  driftage  of  heavy  ice 
over  our  continents  as  far  south  as  the  latitude  of  40°,  in  the 
deposit  of  boulders  on  hills  several  thousands  of  feet  in  height, 
and  in  the  occurrence  of  shells  of  species  still  living  in  the 
sea,  in  beds  raised  to  more  than  twelve  hundred  feet  above 
its  present  level.  Yet  such  changes  must  have  occurred  in 
the  latest  geological  period  immediately  preceding  that  in 
which  we  live.  Proceeding  farther  back  in  geological  time, 
we  find  the  still  more  extraordinary  fact  that  in  the  middle  and 
earlier  Tertiary  the  northern  hemisphere  enjoyed  a  climate 
so  much  more  mild  than  that  which  now  prevails,  that  plants 
at  present  confined  to  temperate  latitudes  could  flourish  in 


THE   DISTRIBUTION   OF  ANIMALS  AND   PLANTS  403 

Greenland  and  Spitzbergen.  *  The  age  in  which  we  live  is 
thus  one  of  mediocrity,  attaining  neither  to  the  Arctic  rigour  of 
the  later  Pleistocene,  nor  to  the  universal  mildness  of  the 
preceding  Miocene. 

The  causes  of  these  changes  of  climate  we  have  discussed 
elsewhere.  It  remains  for  us  now  to  consider  the  actual 
condition  of  our  present  continents,  and  the  bearing  of  past 
conditions  on  the  distribution  of  their  living  inhabitants. 

In  speaking  of  continents  and  islands,  it  may  be  as  well  to 
remark  at  the  outset  that  all  the  land  existing,  or  which 
probably  has  at  any  time  existed,  consists  of  islands  great 
or  small.  It  is  all  surrounded  by  the  ocean.  Two  of  the 
greater  masses  of  land  are,  however,  sufficiently  extensive  to 
be  regarded  as  continents,  and  from  their  very  extent  and 
consequent  permanence  may  be  considered  as  the  more  special 
homes  of  the  living  beings  of  the  land.  Two  other  portions 
of  land,  Australia  and  the  Antarctic  polar  continent,  may  be 
regarded  either  as  smaller  continents  or  large  islands,  but 
partake  of  insular  rather  than  continental  characters  in  their 
animals  and  plants.  All  the  other  portions  of  land  are  pro- 
perly islands;  but  while  these  islands,  and  more  especially 
those  in  mid-ocean,  cannot  be  regarded  as  the  original  homes 
of  many  forms  of  life,  we  shall  find  that  they  have  a  special 
interest  as  the  shelters  and  refuges  of  numerous  very  ancient 
and  now  decaying  species. 

The  two  great  continents  of  America  and  Eurasia  have  been 
the  most  permanent  portions  of  the  land  throughout  geological 
time,  some  parts  of  them  having  always  been  above  water, 
probably  from  the  Laurentian  age  downward,  though  at  various 
times  they  have  been  reduced  to  little  more  than  groups  of 
islands.  On  them,  and  more  especially  in  their  more  northern 

1  As  I  have  elsewhere  shown,  a  warm  climate  in  an  Arctic  region  seems 
to  have  afforded  the  necessary  conditions  for  the  great  colonizing  floras  of 
all  geological  periods. 
20* 


404   THE   DISTRIBUTION   OF   ANIMALS   AND    PLANTS 

parts,  in  which  the  long  continuance  of  daylight  in  summer 
seems  in  warm  periods  to  have  been  peculiarly  favourable  to 
the  introduction  of  new  vegetable  and  animal  forms,  and  to  the 
giving  to  them  that  vigour  necessary  for  active  colonization, 
have  originated  the  greater  number  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
land. 

Regarded  as  portions  of  the  earth's  crust,  the  continents  are 
areas  in  which  the  lateral  thrust,  caused  by  the  secular  con 
traction  of  the  interior  of  the  earth  and  unequal  settlement  of 
the  crust,  has  ridged  up  and  folded  the  rocks,  producing 
mountain  chains.  This  process  began  in  the  earliest  geological 
periods,  and  has  been  repeated  at  long  intervals,  the  original 
lines  of  folding  guiding  those  formed  in  each  new  thrust  pro- 
ceeding from  the  broad  oceanic  areas.  Along  the  ridges  thus 
produced,  and  in  the  narrower  spaces  between  them,  the 
greater  part  of  the  sediment  carried  by  water  was  laid  down, 
thus  producing  plateaus  in  connection  with  the  mountain- 
chains,  while  the  weight  of  new  sediments  and  the  removal  of 
matter  from  other  areas  by  denudation,  have  been  constantly 
producing  local  depression  and  elevation.  The  tendency  of 
the  ocean  to  be  thrown  toward  the  poles  by  the  retardation  of 
the  earth's  rotation,  alternating  with  great  collapses  of  the 
crust  at  the  equator  proceeding  from  the  same  cause,  along 
with  the  secular  cooling,  have  produced  alternate  submer- 
gence and  emergence  of  these  plateaus.  This  has  been 
further  complicated  by  the  constant  tendency  of  the  Arctic  and 
Antarctic  currents,  aided  by  ice,  to  drift  solid  materials,  set  free 
by  the  vast  denuding  action  of  frost,  from  the  polar  to  the 
temperate  regions,  and  by  the  further  tendency  of  animal  life 
to  heap  up  calcareous  accumulations  under  the  warm  waters  of 
the  tropical  regions.  All  these  changes,  as  already  stated,  have 
conspired  to  modify  the  directions  of  the  great  oceanic  cur- 
rents, and  to  produce  vicissitudes  of  climate  under  which 
animals  and  plants  have  been  subjected  in  geological  time  to 


THE   DISTRIBUTION   OF   ANIMALS   AND   PLANTS   405 

those  migrations,  extinctions,  and  renovations  of  which  their 
fossil  remains  and  present  distribution  afford  evidence. 

Still,  it  is  true  that  throughout  the  whole  of  these  great 
mutations,  since  the  beginning  of  geological  history,  there 
seems  never  to  have  been  any  time  when  the  ocean  so  regained 
its  dominion  as  to  produce  a  total  extinction  of  land  life ; 
still  less  was  there  any  time  when  the  necessary  conditions  of 
all  the  various  forms  of  marine  life  failed  to  be  found ;  nor 
was  there  any  climatal  change  so  extreme  as  to  banish  any 
of  the  leading  forms  of  life  from  the  earth.  To  geologists  it  is 
not  necessary  to  say  that  the  conclusions  sketched  above  are 
those  that  have  been  reached  as  the  results  of  long  and 
laborious  investigation,  and  which  have  been  illustrated  and 
established  by  Lyell,  Dana,  Wallace,1  and  many  other  writers.2 
Let  us  now  place  beside  them  some  facts  as  to  the  present 
distribution  of  life,  and  of  the  agencies  which  influence  it. 

Just  as  political  geography  sometimes  presents  boundaries 
not  in  accordance  with  the  physical  structure  of  countries,  so 
the  distribution  of  animals  and  plants  shows  many  peculiar 
and  unexpected  features.  Hence  naturalists  have  divided  the 
continents  into  what  Sclater  has  called  zoological  regions, 
which  are,  so  to  speak,  the  great  empires  of  animal  life,  divisible 
often  by  less  prominent  boundaries  into  provinces.  In  vege- 
table life  similar  boundaries  may  be  drawn,  more  or  less  coin- 
cident with  the  zoological  divisions.  Zoologically,  North 
America  and  Greenland  may  be  regarded  as  one  great  region, 
the  Nearctic,  or  new  Arctic,  the  prefix  not  indicating  that  the 
animals  are  newer  than  those  of  the  old  world,  which  is  by  no 
means  the  case.  South  America  constitutes  another  region — 

1  Wallace,  "  Geographical  Distribution  of  Animals"  and  "Island  Life." 
Second  edition. 

2  The  writer  has  endeavoured  to  popularize  these  great  results  of  geology 
in  his  work,  the  "Story  of  the  Earth."     Ninth  Edition.     London,  1887. 
They  are  often  overlooked  by  specialists,  and  by  compilers  of  geological 
manuals. 


406    THE   DISTRIBUTION    OF   ANIMALS   AND   PLANTS 

the  Neotropical.  If  now  we  turn  to  the  greater  Eurasian  con- 
tinent, with  its  two  prolongations  to  the  south  in  Africa  and 
Australia,  we  shall  find  the  whole  northern  portion,  from  the 
Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  constituting  one  vast  region  of  animal 
life,  the  Palearctic,  which  also  includes  Iceland  and  a  strip 
across  North  Africa.  Africa  itself,  with  Madagascar,  whose 
allegiance  is,  however,  only  partial,  constitutes  the  Ethiopian 
region.  India,  Burmah,  the  south  of  China,  and  certain 
Asiatic  islands  form  the  Oriental  region.  Australia,  New 
Guinea,  and  the  Polynesian  islands  constitute  the  Australian 
region.  All  of  these  regions  may  in  a  geological  point  of 
view  be  considered  as  portions  of  old  and  permanent  contin- 
ental masses,  which,  though  with  movements  of  elevation  and 
depression,  have  continued  to  exist  for  vast  periods.  Some  of 
them,  however,  seem  to  have  enjoyed  greater  immunity  from 
causes  of  change  than  others,  and  present,  accordingly,  animals 
and  plants  having,  geologically  speaking,  an  antique  aspect  in 
comparison.  In  this  sense  the  Australian  province  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  oldest  of  all  in  the  facies  of  its  animal  forms, 
since  creatures  exist  there  of  genera  and  families  which  have 
very  long  ago  become  extinct  everywhere  else.  Next  in  age  to 
this  should  rank  the  Neotropical  or  South  American  region, 
which,  like  Australia,  presents  many  low  and  archaic  forms  of 
animal  life.  The  Ethiopian  region  stands  next  to  it  in  this,  the 
Oriental  and  Nearctic  next,  and  last  and  most  modern  in  its 
aspect  is  the  great  Palearctic  region,  to  which  man  himself  be- 
longs, and  the  animals  and  plants  of  which  vindicate  their  claims 
to  youth  by  that  aggressive  and  colonizing  character  already 
referred  to,  and  which  has  enabled  them  to  spread  themselves 
widely  over  the  other  regions,  even  independently  of  the  in- 
fluence of  man.  On  the  other  hand,  the  animals  and  plants 
of  the  Australian  aud  South  American  regions  show  no  such 
colonizing  tendency,  and  can  scarcely  maintain  themselves 
against  those  of  other  regions  when  introduced  among  them. 


THE   DISTRIBUTION   OF   ANIMALS   AND   PLANTS   407 

Thus  we  have  at  once  in  these  continental  regions  a  great  and 
suggestive  example  of  the  connection  of  geographical  and  geo- 
logical distribution,  the  details  of  which  are  of  the  deepest  in- 
terest, and  have  not  yet  been  fully  worked  out.  One  great 
principle  is,  however,  sufficiently  established  ;  namely,  that 
the  northern  regions  have  been  the  birthplace  of  new  forms  of 
land  life,  whence  they  have  extended  themselves  to  the  south, 
while  the  comparative  isolation  and  equable  climate  of  the 
South  American  and  Australian  regions  have  enabled  them  to 
shelter  and  retain  the  old  moribund  tribes. 

Those  smaller  portions  of  land  separated  from  the  con- 
tinental masses,  the  islands  properly  so  called,  present,  as 
might  be  expected,  many  peculiar  features.  Wallace  divides 
them  into  two  classes,  though  he  admits  that  these  pass  into 
each  other.  Continental  islands  are  those  in  the  vicinity  of 
continents.  They  consist  of  ancient  as  well  as  modern  rock 
formations,  and  contain  animals  .which  indicate  a  former 
continental  connection.  Some  of  these  are  separated  from 
the  nearest  mainland  only  by  shallow  seas  or  straits,  and  may 
be  assumed  to  have  become  islands  only  in  recent  geological 
times.  Others  are  divided  from  the  nearest  continent  by  very 
deep  water,  so  that  they  have  probably  been  longer  severed 
from  the  mainland.  These  contain  more  peculiar  assemblages 
of  animals  and  plants  than  the  islands  of  the  former  class. 
Oceanic  islands  are  more  remote  from  the  continents.  They 
consist  mostly  of  rocks  belonging  to  the  modern  geological 
periods,  and  contain  no  animals  of  those  classes  which  can 
migrate  only  by  land.  Such  islands  may  be  assumed  never 
to  have  been  connected  with  any  continent.  The  study  of 
the  indigenous  population  of  these  various  classes  of  islands 
affords  many  curious  and  interesting  results,  which  Wallace 
has  collected  with  vast  industry  and  care,  and  which,  on  the 
whole,  he  explains  in  a  judicious  manner  and  in  accordance 
with  the  facts  of  geology.  When,  however,  he  maintains  that 


408   THE   DISTRIBUTION   OF   ANIMALS   AND   PLANTS 

evolution  of  the  Darwinian  type  is  "  the  key  to  distribution," 
he  departs  widely  from  any  basis  of  scientific  fact.  This  be- 
comes apparent  when  we  consider  the  following  results,  which 
appear  everywhere  in  the  discussion  of  the  various  insular 
faunas  and  floras : — (i)  None  of  these  islands,  however  remote, 
can  be  affirmed  to  have  been  peopled  by  the  spontaneous 
evolution  of  the  higher  animals  or  plants  from  lower  forms. 
Their  population  is  in  every  case  not  autochthonous,  but  de- 
rived. (2)  Even  in  those  which  are  most  distant  from  the 
continents,  and  may  be  supposed  to  have  been  colonized  in 
very  ancient  times,  there  is  no  evidence  of  any  very  important 
modification  of  their  inhabitants.  (3)  While  the  facts  point 
to  the  origin  of  most  forms  of  terrestrial  life  in  the  Palearctic 
and  Nearctic  regions,  they  afford  no  information  as  to  the 
manner  or  cause  of  their  origination.  In  short,  so  far  is  evo- 
lution from  being  a  key  to  distribution,  that  the  whole  question 
would  become  much  more  simple  if  this  element  were  omitted 
altogether.  A  few  examples  may  be  useful  to  illustrate  this,  as 
well  as  the  actual  explanation  of  the  phenomena  afforded  by 
legitimate  science. 

The  Azores  are  situated  in  a  warm  temperate  latitude 
about  900  miles  west  of  Portugal,  and  separated  from  it  by  a 
sea  2,500  fathoms  in  depth.  The  islands  themselves  are  al- 
most wholly  volcanic,  and  the  oldest  rocks  known  in  them  are 
of  late  Miocene  age.  There  is  no  probability  that  these  islands 
have  ever  been  connected  with  Europe  or  Africa,  nor  is  there 
at  present  any  certainty  that  they  have  been  joined  to  one 
another,  or  have  formed  part  of  any  larger  insular  tract.  In 
these  islands  there  is  only  one  indigenous  mammal,  a  bat, 
which  is  identical  with  a  European  species,  and  no  doubt 
reached  the  islands  by  flight.  There  is  no  indigenous  reptile, 
amphibian,  or  fresh-water  fish.  Of  birds  there  are,  exclusive 
of  waterfowl,  which  may  be  regarded  as  visitors,  twenty-two 
land  birds ;  but  of  these,  four  are  regarded  as  merely  accidental 


THE   DISTRIBUTION   OF   ANIMALS   AND   PLANTS    409 

stragglers,  so  that  only  eighteen  are  permanent  residents.  Of 
these  birds  fifteen  are  common  European  or  African  species, 
which  must  have  flown  to  the  islands,  or  have  been  drifted 
thither  in  storms.  Of  the  remaining  three,  two  are  found  also 
in  Madeira  and  the  Canaries,  and  therefore  may  reasonably 
be  supposed  to  have  been  derived  from  Africa.  One  only  is 
regarded  as  peculiar  to  the  Azores,  and  this  is  a  bullfinch,  so 
nearly  related  to  the  European  bullfinch  that  it  may  be  regarded 
as  merely  a  local  variety.  Wallace  accounts  for  these  facts  by 
supposing  that  the  Azores  were  depopulated  by  the  cold  of  the 
Glacial  age,  and  that  all  these  birds  have  arrived  since  that 
time.  There  is,  however,  little  probability  in  such  a  supposi- 
tion. He  further  supposes  that  fresh  supplies  of  stray  birds 
from  the  mainland,  arriving  from  time  to  time,  have  kept  up 
the  identity  of  the  species.  Instead  of  evolution  assisting  him, 
he  has  thus  somewhat  to  strain  the  facts  to  agree  with  that 
hypothesis.  Similar  explanations  are  given  for  the  still  more 
remarkable  fact  that  the  land  plants  of  the  Azores  are  almost 
wholly  identical  with  European  and  African  forms.  The  in- 
sects and  the  land  snails  are,  however,  held  to  indicate  the 
evolution  of  a  certain  number  of  new  specific  forms  on  the 
islands.  The  beetles  number  no  less  than  212  species,  though 
nearly  half  of  them  are  supposed  to  have  been  introduced  by 
man.  Of  the  whole  number  175  are  European,  19  are  found 
in  Madeira  and  the  Canaries,  3  are  American.  Fourteen 
remain  to  be  accounted  for,  though  most  of  these  are  closely 
allied  to  European  and  other  species  ;  but  a  few  are  quite  dis- 
tinct from  any  elsewhere  known.  Wallace,  however,  very  truly 
remarks  that  our  knowledge  of  the  continental  beetles  is  not 
complete ;  that  the  species  in  question  are  small  and  obscure ; 
that  they  may  be  survivors  of  the  Glacial  period,  and  may  thus 
represent  species  now  extinct  on  the  mainland ;  and  that  for 
these  reasons  it  may  not  be  irrational  to  suppose  that  these 
peculiar  insects  either  still  inhabit,  or  did  once  inhabit,  some 


410    THE   DISTRIBUTION    OF  ANIMALS   AND    PLANTS 

part  of  the  continents,  and  may  be  portions  of  "  ancient  and 
widespread  groups,"  once  widely  diffused,  but  now  restricted 
to  a  few  insular  spots.  Among  the  land  snails,  if  anywhere, 
we  should  find  evidence  either  of  autochthonous  evolution  or 
of  specific  change.  These  animals  have  existed  on  the  earth 
since  the  Carboniferous  period,  and,  notwithstanding  their 
proverbial  slowness  and  sedentary  habits,  they  have  contrived 
to  colonize  every  habitable  spot  of  land  on  the  globe — that  is, 
unless  in  some  of  these  places  they  have  originated  de  novo. 
In  the  Azores  there  are  sixty-nine  species  of  land  snails,  of 
which  no  less  than  thirty-two,  or  nearly  one-half,  are  peculiar, 
though  nearly  all  are  closely  allied  to  European  types.  What, 
then,  is  the  origin  of  these  thirty-two  species,  admitting  for  the 
sake  of  argument  that  they  are  really  distinct,  and  not  merely 
varietal  forms,  though  it  is  well  known  that  in  this  group  species 
are  often  unduly  multiplied.  Three  suppositions  are  possible, 
(i)  These  snails  may  have  originated  in  the  islands  themselves, 
either  by  creation  or  evolution  from  lower  forms  ;  say,  from  sea 
snails.  (2)  They  may  have  been  modified  from  modern  con- 
tinental species.  (3)  They  may  be  unmodified  descendants 
of  species  of  Miocene  or  Pliocene  age  now  existing  on  the 
continents  only  as  fossils.  As  the  islands  appear  to  have  ex- 
isted since  Miocene  times,  it  is  no  more  improbable  that 
species  of  that  or  the  Pliocene  age  should  have  found  their 
way  to  them  than  that  modern  species  should;  and  as  we 
know  only  a  fraction  of  the  Tertiary  species  of  Europe  or 
Africa,  it  is  not  likely  that  we  shall  be  able  to  identify  all  of 
these  early  visitors.  Unfortunately  no  Miocene  or  Pliocene 
deposits  holding  remains  of  land  snails  are  known  in  the 
Azores  themselves,  so  that  this  kind  of  evidence  fails  us.  In 
Madeira  and  Porto  Santo,  however,  where  there  are  numerous 
modern  snails,  there  are  Pliocene  beds  holding  remains  of  these 
animals.  In  Madeira  there  are,  according  to  Lyell,  36  Plio- 
cene species,  and  in  Porto  Santo  35,  and  of  these  only  eight 


THE   DISTRIBUTION   OF   ANIMALS   AND   PLANTS  4!  I 

are  extinct.  Thus  we  can  prove  that  many  of  the  peculiar 
species  of  these  islands  have  remained  unchanged  since  Plio- 
cene times.  While  differing  from  modern  European  shells, 
several  of  these  species  are  very  near  to  European  Miocene 
species.  Thus  we  seem  to  have  evidence  in  the  Madeira 
group,  not  of  modification,  but  of  unchanged  survival  of  Ter- 
tiary species  long  since  extinct  in  Europe.  May  we  not  infer 
that  the  same  was  the  case  in  the  Azores  ?  These  results  are 
certainly  very  striking  when  we  consider  how  long  the  Azores 
must  have  existed  as  islands,  how  very  rarely  animals,  and  es- 
pecially pairs  of  animals,  must  have  reached  them,  and  how 
complete  has  been  the  isolation  of  these  animals,  and  how 
peculiar  the  conditions  to  which  they  have  been  subjected  in 
their  island  retreat. 

Other  oceanic  islands  present  great  varieties  of  conditions, 
but  leading  to  similar  conclusions.  Some,  as  the  Bermudas, 
seem  to  have  been  settled  in  very  modern  times  with  animals 
and  plants  nearly  all  identical  with  those  of  neighbouring  coun- 
tries, though  even  here  it  would  appear  that  there  are  some 
indigenous  species  which  would  indicate  a  greater  age  or  more 
extended  lands,  now  submerged.1  Others,  like  St.  Helena, 
are  occupied  apparently  with  old  settlers,  which  may  have  come 
to  them  in  early  Tertiary,  or  even  in  Secondary  periods,  which 
have  long  since  become  extinct  on  the  continents,  and  whose 
nearest  analogues  are  now  widely  scattered  over  the  world. 
Islands  are  therefore  places  of  survival  of  old  species — special 
preserves  for  forms  of  life  lost  to  the  continents.  One  of  the 
most  curious  of  these  is  Celebes,  which  seems  to  be  a  surviving 
fragment  of  Miocene  Asia,  which,  though  so  near  to  that  con- 
tinent, has  been  sufficiently  isolated  to  preserve  its  old  popula- 

1  Heilprin  mentions  eleven  marine  raollusks  supposed  to  be  peculiar  to  the 
islands,  and  eight  species  of  land  shells,  as  well  as  a  few  Crustaceans  hither- 
to found  only  in  the  Pacific.  The  comparisons  are,  however,  admitted  to 
be  incomplete. 


412   THE   DISTRIBUTION    OF   ANIMALS   AND    PLANTS 

tion  during  all  the  vast  lapse  of  time  between  the  middle 
Tertiary  and  the  present  period.  This  is  a  fact  which  gives 
to  the  oceanic  islands  the  greatest  geological  interest,  and 
induces  us  to  look  into  their  actual  fauna  and  flora  for  the 
representatives  of  species  known  on  the  mainland  only  as 
fossils.  It  is  thus  that  we  look  to  the  marsupials  of  Australia 
as  the  nearest  analogues  of  those  of  the  Jurassic  of  Europe, 
and  that  we  find  in  the  strange  Barramunda  (ceratodus)  of  its 
rivers  the  only  survivor  of  a  group  of  fishes  once  widely  distri- 
buted, but  which  has  long  since  perished  elsewhere. 

Perhaps  one  of  the  most  interesting  examples  of  this  is 
furnished  by  the  Galapagos  Islands,  an  example  the  more  re- 
markable that  no  one  who  has  read  in  Darwin's  fascinating 
"  Journal  "  the  description  of  these  islands,  can  have  failed  to 
perceive  that  the  peculiarities  of  this  strange  Archipelago  must 
have  been  prominent  among  the  facts  which  first  planted  in 
his  mind  the  germ  of  that  theory  of  the  origin  of  species  which 
has  since  grown  to  such  gigantic  dimensions.  It  is  curious 
also  to  reflect  that  had  the  bearing  of  geological  history  on  the 
facts  of  distribution  been  as  well  known  forty  years  ago  as  it  is 
now,  the  reasoning  of  the  great  naturalist  on  this  and  similar 
cases  might  have  taken  an  entirely  different  direction. 

The  Galapagos  are  placed  exactly  on  the  equator,  and  there- 
fore out  of  reach  of  even  the  suspicion  of  having  been  visited 
by  the  glacial  cold,  though  from  their  isolation  in  the  ocean, 
and  the  effects  of  the  currents  flowing  along  the  American 
coast,  their  climate  is  not  extremely  hot.  They  are  600  miles 
west  of  South  America,  and  the  separating  ocean  is  in  some 
parts  3,000  fathoms  deep.  The  largest  of  the  islands  is  75 
miles  in  length,  and  some  of  the  hills  attain  an  elevation  of 
about  4,000  feet,  so  that  there  are  considerable  varieties  of 
station  and  climate.  So  far  as  is  known  they  are  wholly  vol- 
canic, and  they  may  be  regarded  as  the  summits  of  submerged 
mountains  not  unlike  in  structure  to  the  Andes  of  the  main- 


THE   DISTRIBUTION   OF   ANIMALS   AND   PLANTS   413 

land.  Their  exact  geological  age  is  unknown,  but  there  is  no 
improbability  in  supposing  that  they  may  have  existed  with 
more  or  less  of  extension  since  the  Secondary  or  Mesozoic 
period.  In  any  case  their  fauna  is  in  some  respects  a  survival 
of  that  age.  Lyell  has  truly  remarked,  "  In  the  fauna  of  the 
Galapagos  Islands  we  have  a  state  of  things  very  analogous  to 
that  of  the  Secondary  period." 

Like  other  oceanic  islands,  the  Galapagos  have  no  indigenous 
mammals,  with  the  doubtful  exception  of  a  South  American 
mouse  ;  but,  unlike  most  others,  they  are  rich  in  reptiles.  At 
the  head  of  these  stand  several  species  of  gigantic  tortoises. 
This  group  of  animals,  so  far  as  known,  commenced  its  exist- 
ence in  the  Eocene  Tertiary ;  and  in  this  and  the  Miocene 
period  still  more  gigantic  species  existed  on  the  continents.  It 
has  been  supposed  that  at  some  such  early  date  they  reached 
the  Galapagos  from  South  America.  Another  group  of  Gala- 
pagan  reptiles,  perhaps  still  more  remarkable,  is  that  of  iguana- 
like  lizards  of  the  genus  Amblyrhyncus,  which  are  vegetable 
feeders, — one  of  them  browsing  on  marine  weeds.  They  recall 
the  great  iguana-like  reptiles  of  the  European  Wealden,  and 
stand  remote  from  all  modern  types.  There  are  also  snakes  of 
two  species,  but  these  are  South  American  forms,  and  may 
have  drifted  to  the  islands  in  comparatively  recent  times  on 
floating  trees.  The  birds  are  a  curious  assemblage.  A  few  are 
common  American  species,  like  the  rice  bird.  Others  are 
quaint  and  peculiar  creatures,  allied  to  South  American  birds, 
but  probably  representing  forms  long  since  extinct  on  the 
continent.  The  bird  fauna,  as  Wallace  remarks,  indicates  that 
some  of  these  animals  are  old  residents,  others  more  recent 
arrivals ;  and  it  is  probable  that  they  have  arrived  at  various 
times  since  the  early  Tertiary.  He  assumes  that  the  earlier 
arrivals  have  been  modified  in  the  islands  "  into  a  variety  of 
distinct  types  ";  but  the  only  evidence  of  this  is  that  some  of 
the  species  arc  closely  related  to  each  other.  It  is  more  likely 


414   THE   DISTRIBUTION    OF   ANIMALS   AND   PLANTS 

that  they  represent  to  our  modern  eyes  the  unmodified  descend- 
ants of  continental  birds  of  the  early  Tertiary.  Darwin  re- 
marks that  they  are  remarkably  sombre  in  colouring  for  equa- 
torial birds ;  but  perhaps  their  ancestors  came  from  a  cooler 
climate,  and  have  not  been  able  to  don  a  tropical  garb ;  or 
perhaps  they  belong  to  a  far-back  age,  when  the  vegetable  king- 
dom also  was  less  rich  in  colouring  than  it  is  at  present,  and 
the  birds  were  in  harmony  with  it.  This,  indeed,  seems  still 
to  be  the  character  of  the  Galapagos  plants,  which  Darwin 
says  have  "a  wretched,  weedy  appearance,"  without  gay  flowers, 
though  later  visitors  have  expressed  a  more  favourable  opinion. 

These  plants  are  in  themselves  very  remarkable,  for  they  are 
largely  peculiar  species,  and  are  in  many  cases  confined  to  par- 
ticular islands,  having  apparently  been  unable  to  cross  from  one 
island  to  another,  though  in  some  way  able  to  reach  the  group. 
The  explanation  is  that  they  resemble  North  American  plants, 
and  came  to  the  Galapagos  at  a  time  when  a  wide  strait  sepa- 
rated North  and  South  America,  allowing  the  equatorial  cur- 
rent to  pass  through,  and  drift  plants  to  the  Galapagos,  where 
they  have  been  imprisoned  ever  since.  This  was  probably  in 
Miocene  times,  and  when  we  know  more  of  the  Miocene  flora 
of  the  southern  part  of  North  America  we  may  hope  to  recover 
some  of  the  ancestors  of  the  Galapagos  plants.  In  the  mean- 
time their  probable  origin  and  antiquity,  as  stated  by  Wallace, 
render  unnecessary  any  hypothesis  of  modification. 

Before  leaving  this  subject,  it  is  proper  to  observe  that  on 
the  continents  themselves  there  are  many  remarkable  cases  of 
isolation  of  species,  which  help  us  better  to  understand  the 
conditions  of  insular  areas.  The  "variable  hare"  of  the 
Scottish  highlands,  and  of  the  extreme  north  of  Europe,  appears 
again  in  the  Alps,  the  Pyrenees,  and  the  Caucasus,  being  in 
these  mountains  separated  by  a  thousand  miles  of  apparently 
impassable  country  from  its  northern  haunts.  It  no  doubt  ex- 
tended itself  over  the  intervening  plains  at  a  time  when  Europe 


THE   DISTRIBUTION   OF   ANIMALS   AND   PLANTS   415 

was  colder  than  at  present.  Another  curious  case  is  that  of  the 
marsh-tit  of  Europe.  This  little  bird  is  found  throughout  south- 
western Europe.  It  reappears  in  China,  but  is  not  known 
anywhere  between.  In  Siberia  and  northern  Europe  there 
is,  however,  a  species  or  distinct  race  which  connects  these 
isolated  patches.  In  this  case,  if  the  Siberian  species  is  truly 
distinct,  we  have  a  remarkable  case  of  isolation  and  of  the 
permanence  of  identical  characters  for  a  long  time ;  for  in  that 
case  this  bird  must  be  a  survivor  of  the  Pliocene  or  Miocene 
time.  On  the  other  hand,  if,  as  is  perhaps  more  likely,  the 
marsh-tit  is  only  a  local  variety  of  the  Siberian  species,  we  have 
an  illustration  of  the  local  recurrence  of  this  form  when  the 
conditions  are  favourable,  even  though  separated  by  a  great 
space  and  long  time. 

The  study  of  fossils  gives  us  the  true  meaning  of  such  facts, 
and  causes  us  to  cease  to  wonder  at  any  case  of  local  repetition 
of  species,  however  widely  separated.  The  "  big  trees "  of 
California  constitute  a  remarkable  example.  There  are  at 
present  two  very  distinct  species  of  these  trees,  both  found 
only  in  limited  areas  of  the  western  part  of  North  America. 
Fossil  trees  of  the  same  genus  (Sequoia)  occur  as  far  back  as 
the  Cretaceous  age ;  but  in  this  age  ten  or  more  species  are 
known.  Nor  are  they  confined  to  America,  but  occur  in 
various  parts  of  the  Eurasian  continent  as  well.  Two  of  the 
Lower  Cretaceous  species  are  so  near  to  the  two  modern  ones 
that  even  an  unbeliever  in  evolution  may  suppose  them  to  be 
possible  ancestors ;  the  remaining  eight  are  distinct,  but  some 
of  them  intermediate  in  their  characters.  In  the  Tertiary 
period,  intervening  between  the  Cretaceous  and  the  modern, 
fourteen  species  of  Sequoia  are  believed  to  have  been  recog- 
nised, and  they  appear  to  have  existed  abundantly  all  over  the. 
northern  hemisphere.  Thus  we  know  that  these  remarkable 
Californian  giants  are  the  last  remnant  of  a  once  widely  distri- 
buted genus,  originating,  as  far  as  known,  in  the  Cretaceous  age. 


416   THE   DISTRIBUTION   OF   ANIMALS   AND   PLANTS 

Now  had  a  grove  of  Sequoias,  however  small,  survived  any- 
where in  Europe  or  Asia,  and  had  we  no  knowledge  of  the 
fossil  forms,  we  might  have  been  quite  at  a  loss  to  account  for 
their  peculiar  distribution.  The  fossil  remains  of  the  Tertiary 
rocks,  both  animal  and  vegetable,  present  us  with  many  instances 
of  this  kind. 

The  discussion  of  the  distribution  of  animals  and  plants, 
when  carried  on  in  the  light  of  geology,  raises  many  interesting 
questions  as  to  time,  which  we  have  already  glanced  at,  but 
which  deserve  a  little  more  attention.  As  to  the  vast  duration 
of  geological  time  all  geologists  are  agreed.  It  is,  however, 
now  well  understood  that  science  sets  certain  limits  to  the  time 
at  our  disposal.  Edward  Forbes  humorously  defined  a  geolo- 
gist to  be  "  an  amiable  enthusiast  who  is  content  if  allowed  to 
appropriate  as  much  as  he  pleases  of  that  which  other  men 
value  least,  namely,  past  time " ;  but  now  even  the  geologist 
is  obliged  to  be  content  with  a  limited  quantity  of  this  com- 
modity. 

The  well-known  estimate  of  Lord  Kelvin  gave  one  hundred 
millions  of  years  as  the  probable  time  necessary  for  the  change 
of  the  earth  from  the  condition  of  a  molten  mass  to  that  which 
we  now  see.  On  this  estimate  we  might  fairly  have  assumed 
fifty  millions  of  years  as  covering  the  time  from  the  Laurentian 
age  to  the  modern  period.  The  great  physicist  has,  however, 
after  allowing  us  thus  much  credit  in  the  bank  of  time,  "  sud- 
denly put  up  the  shutters  and  declared  a  dividend  of  less  than 
four  shillings  in  the  pound."1  In  other  words,  he  has  reduced 
the  time  at  our  disposal  to  twenty  millions  of  years.  Other 
physicists,  reasoning  on  the  constitution  of  the  sun,  agree 
with  this  latter  estimate,  and  affirm  that  "  twenty  millions  of 
years  ago  the  earth  was  enveloped  in  the  fiery  atmosphere  of 
the  sun."2  Geology  itself  has  attempted  an  independent  cal- 

1  Bonney,  Address  before  British  Association,  1888. 
2  Newcomb,  Helmholtz,  Tait,  etc. 


THE   DISTRIBUTION   OF  ANIMALS   AND   PLANTS  417 

culation  based  on  the  wearing  down  of  our  continents,  which 
appears  to  proceed  at  the  rate  of  about  a  foot  in  four  or  five 
thousand  years,  and  on  the  time  required  to  deposit  the  sedi- 
ments of  the  several  geological  formations,  estimated  at  about 
70,000  feet  in  thickness.  These  calculations  would  give  us, 
say,  eighty-six  millions  of  years  since  the  earth  began  to  have 
a  solid  crust,  which  would,  like  Lord  Kelvin's  earlier  estimate, 
give  us  nearly  fifty  millions  of  years  for  the  geological  time 
since  the  introduction  of  life.  The  details  of  the  several  esti- 
mates made  it  would  be  tedious  and  unprofitable  to  enter  into, 
but  I  may  state  as  my  own  conclusion,  that  the  modern  rates  of 
denudation  and  deposit  must  be  taken  as  far  below  the  average, 
and  that  perhaps  the  estimate  stated  by  Wallace  on  data  sup- 
plied by  Houghton,  namely,  twenty-eight  millions,  may  be  not 
far  from  the  truth,  though  perhaps  admitting  of  considerable 
abatement. 

This  reduced  estimate  of  geological  time  would  still  give 
scope  enough  for  the  distribution  of  animals  and  plants,  but 
it  will  scarcely  give  that  required  by  certain  prevalent  theories 
of  evolution.  When  Darwin  says,  "  If  the  theory  (of  natural 
selection)  be  true,  it  is  indisputable  that  before  the  lowest  Cam- 
brian stratum  was  deposited  long  periods  elapsed,  as  long  as, 
or  probably  far  longer  than,  the  whole  interval  from  the  Cam- 
brian to  the  present  day,"  he  makes  a  demand  which  geology 
cannot  supply ;  for  independently  of  our  ignorance  of  any 
formations  or  fossils,  except  those  included  in  the  Archaean, 
to  represent  this  vast  succession  of  life,  the  time  required 
would  push  us  back  into  a  molten  state  of  the  planet.  This 
difficulty  is  akin  to  that  which  meets  us  with  reference  to  the 
introduction  of  many  and  highly  specialized  mammals  in  the 
Eocene,  or  of  the  forests  of  modern  type  in  the  Cretaceous. 
To  account  for  the  origin  of  these  by  slow  and  gradual  evolu- 
tion requires  us  to  push  these  forms  of  life  so  far  back  into 
formations  which  afford  no  trace  of  them,  but,  on  the  contrary, 


418   THE   DISTRIBUTION   OF   ANIMALS   AND    PLANTS 

contain  other  creatures  that  appear  to  be  exclusive  of  them, 
that  our  faith  in  the  theory  fails.  The  only  theory  of  evolu- 
tion which  seems  to  meet  this  difficulty  is  that  advanced  by 
Mivart,  Leconte,  and  Saporta,  of  "  critical  periods,"  or  periods 
of  rapid  introduction  of  new  species  alternating  with  others 
of  comparative  inaction.  This  would  much  better  accord 
with  the  apparently  rapid  introduction  of  many  new  forms  of 
life  over  wide  regions  at  the  same  period.  It  would  also 
approach  somewhat  near,  in  its  manner  of  stating  the  problem 
to  be  solved,  to  the  theory  of  "  creation  by  law "  as  held  by 
the  Duke  of  Argyll,  or  to  what  may  be  regarded  as  "  mediate 
creation,"  proceeding  in  a  regular  and  definite  manner,  but 
under  laws  and  forces  as  yet  very  imperfectly  known,  through- 
out geological  time. 

It  seems  singular,  in  view  of  the  facts  of  palaeontology,  that 
evolutionists  of  the  Darwinian  school  are  so  wedded  to  the 
idea  of  one  introduction  only  of  each  form  of  life,  and  its 
subsequent  division  by  variation  into  different  species,  as  it 
progressively  spreads  itself  over  the  globe,  or  is  subjected  to 
different  external  conditions.  It  is  evident  that  a  little  further 
and  very  natural  extension  of  their  hypothesis  would  enable 
them  to  get  rid  of  many  difficulties  of  time  and  space.  For 
example,  certain  Millipedes  and  Batrachians  are  first  known  in 
the  coal  formation,  and  this  not  in  one  locality  only,  but  in 
different  and  widely  separated  regions.  If  they  took  be- 
ginning in  one  place,  and  spread  themselves  gradually  over 
the  world,  this  must  have  required  a  vast  lapse  of  time— more 
than  we  can  suppose  probable.  But  if,  in  the  coal-formation 
age,  a  worm  could  anywhere  change  into  a  Millipede,  or  a  fish 
into  a  Batrachian,  why  might  this  not  have  occurred  in  many 
places  at  once  ?  Again,  if  the  oldest  known  land  snails  occur 
in  the  coal  formation,  and  we  find  no  more  specimens  till  a 
much  later  period,  why  is  it  necessary  to  suppose  that  these 
creatures  existed  in  the  intervening  time,  and  that  the  later 


THE   DISTRIBUTION   OF   ANIMALS  AND   PLANTS  419 

species  are  the  descendants  of  the  earlier?  Might  not  the 
process  have  been  repeated  again  and  again,  so  as  to  give 
animals  of  this  kind  to  widely  separated  areas  and  successive 
periods  without  the  slow  and  precarious  methods  of  continuous 
evolution  and  migration  ?  This  apparent  inconsistency  strikes 
one  constantly  in  the  study  of  discussions  of  the  theory  of 
derivation  in  connection  with  geographical  and  geological  dis- 
tribution. We  constantly  find  the  believers  in  derivation 
laboriously  devising  expedients  for  the  migration  of  animals 
and  plants  to  the  most  unlikely  places,  when  it  would  seem 
that  they  might  just  as  well  have  originated  in  those  places  by 
direct  evolution  from  lower  forms.  Those  who  believe  in  a 
separate  centre  of  creation  for  each  species  must  of  course 
invoke  all  geological  and  geographical  possibilities  for  the 
dispersion  of  animals  and  plants  ;  but  surely  the  evolutionist, 
if  he  has  faith  in  his  theory,  might  take  a  more  easy  and 
obvious  method,  especially  when  in  any  case  he  is  under  the 
necessity  of  demanding  a  great  lapse  of  time.  That  he  does 
not  adopt  this  method  perhaps  implies  a  latent  suspicion 
that  he  must  not  repeat  his  miracle  too  often.  He  also  per- 
ceives that  if  repeated  and  unlimited  evolution  of  similar 
forms  had  actually  occurred,  there  could  have  remained  little 
specific  distinctness,  and  the  present  rarity  of  connecting  links 
would  not  have  occurred.  Further,  a  new  difficulty  would 
have  sprung  up  in  the  geographical  and  geological  relations  of 
species  and  genera,  which  would  then  have  assumed  too  much 
of  the  aspect  of  a  preconceived  plan.  It  is  only  fair  to  a 
well-known  and  somewhat  extreme  European  evolutionist, 
Karl  Vogt,  to  state  that  he  launches  boldly  into  the  ocean  of 
multiple  evolution,  not  fearing  to  hold  that  identical  species 
of  mollusks  have  been  separately  evolved  in  separate  Swiss 
lakes,  and  that  the  horse  has  been  separately  evolved  in 
America  and  in  Europe,  in  the  former  along  a  line  beginning 
with  Eohippus,  and  in  the  latter  along  an  entirely  separate  line, 


420  THE  DISTRIBUTION   OF   ANIMALS   AND    PLANTS 

commencing  with  Paleotherium.  The  serious  complications 
resulting  from  such  admissions  are  evident,  but  Vogt  deserves 
credit  for  faith  and  consistency  beyond  those  of  his  teachers. 

With  reference  to  the  actual  distribution  of  species,  the 
question  of  time  becomes  most  important  when  applied  to 
the  Glacial  period,  since  it  is  obvious  that  much  of  the  pre- 
sent distribution  must  have  been  caused,  or  greatly  modified, 
by  that  event.  The  astronomical  theory  would  place  the 
close  of  the  Glacial  age  as  far  back  as  70,000  or  80,000  years 
ago.  But  we  have  already  seen  in  the  chapter  on  that  period 
that  geological  facts  bring  its  close  to  only  from  10,000  to 
7,000  years  before  our  time.  If  we  adopt  the  shorter  esti- 
mates afforded  by  these  facts,  it  will  follow  that  the  submer- 
gences and  emergences  of  land  in  the  Glacial  ages  were  more 
rapid  than  has  hitherto  been  supposed,  and  that  this  would 
react  on  our  estimate  of  time  by  giving  facilities  for  more 
rapid  denudation  and  deposition.  Such  results  would  greatly 
shorten  the  duration  assignable  to  the  human  period.  They 
would  render  it  less  remarkable  that  no  new  species  of  animals 
seem  to  have  been  introduced  since  the  Glacial  age,  that  many 
insular  faunas  belong  to  far  earlier  times,  and  that  no  changes 
even  leading  to  the  production  of  .well-marked  varieties  have 
occurred  in  the  post-glacial  or  modern  age. 

In  conclusion,  does  all  this  array  of  fact  and  reasoning 
bring  us  any  nearer  to  the  comprehension  of  that  "  mystery  of 
mysteries,"  the  origin  and  succession  of  life  ?  It  certainly  does 
not  enable  us  to  point  to  any  species,  and  to  say  precisely  here, 
at  this  time  and  thus  it  orginated.  If  we  adopt  the  theory 
of  evolution,  the  facts  seem  to  restrict  us  to  that  form  of  it 
which  admits  paroxysmal  or  intermittent  introduction  of 
species,  depending  on  the  concurrence  of  conditions  favourable 
to  the  action  of  the  power,  whatever  it  may  be,  which  pro- 
duces new  organisms.  Nor  is  there  anything  in  the  facts  of 
distribution  to  invalidate  the  belief  in  creation,  according  to 


THE   DISTRIBUTION   OF  ANIMALS   AND   PLANTS   421 

definite  laws,  if  that  really  differs  in  its  nature  from  certain 
forms  of  the  hypothesis  of  evolution.  We  have  also  learned 
that,  time  being  given,  animals  and  plants  manifest  wonderful 
powers  of  migration,  that  they  can  vary  within  considerable 
limits  without  ceasing  to  be  practically  the  same  species,  and 
that  under  certain  conditions  they  can  endure  far  longer  in 
some  places  than  in  others.  We  also  see  evidence  that  it  is 
not  on  limited  islands,  but  on  the  continents,  that  land  animals 
and  plants  have  originated,  and  that  swarms  of  new  and 
vigorous  species  have  issued  from  the  more  northern  regions 
in  successive  periods  of  favourable  Arctic  climate.  The  last 
of  these  new  swarms  or  "centres  of  creation,"  that  with 
which  man  himself  is  more  closely  connected,  belongs  to  the 
Palearctic  region.  We  have  already  seen  that  in  every  geo- 
logical period,  when  the  submerged  continental  plateaus  were 
pervaded  by  the  warm  equatorial  waters,  multitudes  of  new 
marine  species  appear.  In  times  when,  on  the  contrary,  the 
colder  Arctic  currents  poured  over  these  submerged  surfaces, 
carrying  mud  and  stones,  great  extinction  took  place,  but 
certain  northern  forms  of  life  swarmed  abundantly,  and  when 
elevation  took  place,  marine  species  became  extinct  or  were 
forced  to  migrate.  Everywhere  and  at  all  times  multiplication 
of  species  was  promoted  by  facilities  for  expansion.  The  great 
limestones  of  our  continents,  full  of  corals  and  shells  of  new 
species,  belong  to  times  when  the  ocean  spread  itself  over  the 
continental  plateaus,  affording  wide,  untenanted  areas  of 
warm  and  shallow  water.  The  introduction  of  new  faunas 
and  floras  on  the  land  belongs  to  times  when  vast  supplies  of 
food  for  plants  and  animals  and  favourable  conditions  of 
existence  were  afforded  by  the  emergence  of  new  lands 
possessing  fertile  soils  and  abundantly  supplied  with  light, 
heat,  and  moisture.  Thus  geological  and  geographical  facts 
concur  with  ordinary  observation  and  experience  in  reference 
to  varietal  forms,  in  testifying  that  it  is  not  mere  struggle  for 


422   THE   DISTRIBUTION   OF   ANIMALS   AND   PLANTS 

existence,  but  facilities  for  easy  existence  and  rapid  extension, 
that  afford  the  conditions  necessary  for  new  and  advanced 
forms  of  life.  These  considerations  do  not,  of  course,  reach 
to  the  first  cause  of  the  introduction  of  species,  nor  even  to 
the  precise  mode  in  which  this  may  have  acted  in  any  parti- 
cular case :  but  perhaps  we  cannot  fully  attain  to  this  by  any 
process  of  inductive  inquiry.  The  study  of  geographical  dis- 
tribution,' therefore,  does  not  enable  us  to  solve  the  question 
of  the  origin  of  specific  types,  but,  on  the  contrary,  points  to 
marvellous  capacities  for  migration  and  a  wonderful  tenacity 
of  life  in  species.  In  these  respects,  however,  it  is  a  study 
full  of  interest,  and  in  nothing  more  so  than  in  the  evidence 
which  it  affords  of  the  practically  infinite  provisions  made  for 
the  peopling  of  every  spot  of  land  or  sea  with  creatures  fitted 
to  flourish  and  enjoy  life  therein,  and  to  carry  on  the  great 
and  progressive  plan  of  the  Creator. 

REFERENCES  : — Continental  and  Island  Life,  Princeton  Review,  July,  1881. 
Address  to  American  Association,  1883.  Papers  and  Addresses  to 
Natural  History  Society,  Canadian  Naturalist,  Montreal.  "The 
Story  of  the  Earth  and  Man,"  1st  ed.,  1873,  gth  ed.,  London, 
1887. 


ALPINE  AND  ARCTIC  PLANTS  IN  CONNECTION 
WITH  GEOLOGICAL  HISTORY 


DEDICATED    TO   THE    MEMORY   OF 

DR.    ASA    GRAY, 

THE   GREATEST   AND    MOST    PHILOSOPHICAL   EXPONENT 
OF    AMERICAN    BOTANY. 


A  BOTANICO  -  GEOLOGICAL  EXCURSION  IN  THE  WHITE 
MOUNTAINS — DISTRIBUTION  AND  MIGRATIONS  OF  AL- 
PINE PLANTS  —  RELATIONS  TO  THE  LATER  GEOLOGICAL 
CHANGES — BEARING  ON  THE  VEGETATION  OF  EARLIER 
TIMES 


MOUNT  WASHINGTON,  FROM  TUCK£RMAN'S  RAVINE,    (p.  426.) 
(After  Filmer,  ia  King's  "White  Hills.") 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

ALPINE  AND  ARCTIC  PLANTS  IN  CONNECTION 
WITH  GEOLOGICAL  HISTORY. 

THE  group  of  the  White  Mountains  is  the  culminating  point 
of  the  northern  division  of  the  great  Appalachian  range,  extend- 
ing from  Tennessee  to  Gaspe  in  a  south-west  and  north-east 
direction,  and  constituting  the  breast  bone  of  the  North  Amer- 
ican continent.  This  great  ridge  or  succession  of  ridges  has 
its  highest  peaks  near  its  southern  extremity,  in  the  Black 
Mountains ;  but  these  are  little  higher  than  their  northern 
rivals,  which  at  least  hold  the  undisputed  distinction  of  being 
the  highest  hills  in  north-eastern  America.  As  Guyot1  has 
well  remarked,  the  White  Mountains  do  not  occur  in  the  general 
line  of  the  chain,  but  rather  on  its  eastern  side.  The  central 
point  of  the  range,  represented  by  the  Green  Mountains  and 
their  continuation,  describes  a  great  curve  from  Gaspe  to  the 
valley  of  the  Hudson,  and  opposite  the  middle  of  the  concave 
side  of  this  curved  line  towers  the  almost  isolated  group  of  the 
White  Hills.  On  the  other  side  is  the  narrow  valley  of  Lake 
Champlain,  and  beyond  this  the  great  isolated  mass  of  the  Adi- 
rondack Mountains,  nearly  approaching  in  the  altitude  of  their 
highest  peaks,  and  greatly  exceeding  in  their  geological  age,  the 
opposite  White  Mountain  group.  The  Appalachian  range  is 
thus,  in  this  part  of  its  course,  supported  on  either  side  by  out- 
liers higher  than  itself.  The  dense  grouping  of  mountains  in 
this  region  is  due  to  the  resistance  offered  by  the  old  Adiron- 

1  Sillimaifs  Journal. 

21* 


426  ALPINE   AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS 

clack  mass  to  the  westward  thrust  of  the  Atlantic  and  the  sub- 
sequent piling  up  against  this  mass  of  the  ridges  of  paloeozoic 
sediments.  Southward  of  this  the  Atlantic  thrust  has  driven 
these  ridges  back  in  a  great  bend  to  the  westward. 

My  present  purpose  is  not  to  give  a  general  geographical  or 
geological  sketch  of  the  White  Mountains,  but  to  direct  atten- 
tion to  the  vegetation  which  clothes  their  summits,  and  its 
relation  to  the  history  of  the  mountains  themselves.  For  this 
purpose  I  may  first  shortly  describe  the  appearances  presented 
in  ascending  the  highest  of  them,  Mount  Washington,  and 
then  turn  to  the  special  points  to  which  these  notes  relate. 

In  approaching  Mount  Washington  by  the  Grand  Trunk 
Railway,  the  traveller  has  ascended  from  the  valley  of  the  St. 
Lawrence  to  a  height  of  802  feet  at  the  Alpine  House  at  Gor- 
ham.  Thence,  in  a  distance  of  about  eight  miles  along  the 
bank  of  the  Peabody  River,  to  the  Glen  House,  he  ascends  to 
the  elevation  of  1,632  feet  above  the  sea  ;  and  it  is  here,  or  im- 
mediately opposite  the  Glen  House,  that  the  actual  ascent 
begins.  The  distance  from  the  Peabody  River,  opposite  the 
hotel,  to  the  summit  is  nine  miles,  and  in  this  distance  we  as- 
cend 4,656  feet,  the  total  height  being  6,288  feet  above  the 
sea.1  Formerly  only  a  bridle  path  led  up  this  ascent ;  but  now 
access  can  be  had  to  the  summit  by  carriage  roads  and  by  rail. 

These  royal  roads  to  the  summit  are,  however,  too  demo- 
cratic for  the  taste  of  some  visitors,  who  mourn  the  olden  days 
of  ponies,  guides  and  adventures ;  and  though  they  give  an 
excellent  view  of  the  geological  structure  of  the  mountain,  they 
do  not  afford  a  good  opportunity  for  the  study  of  the  alpine 
flora,  which  is  one  of  the  chief  attractions  of  Mount  Washington. 
For  this  reason,  though  I  availed  myself  of  the  new  road  for 
gaining  a  general  idea  of  the  features  of  the  group,  I  determined 
to  ascend  by  Tuckerman's  Ravine,  a  great  chasm  in  the  moun- 
tain side,  named  in  honour  of  the  indefatigable  botanist  of  the 

1  According  to  Guyot,  but  some  recent  surveys  make  it  a  little  higher. 


ALPINE   AND  ARCTIC   PLANTS  427 

North  American  lichens.1  I  was  aided  in  this  by  the  kindness 
of  a  gentleman  of  Boston,  well  acquainted  with  these  hills,  and 
passionately  fond  of  their  scenery.2  Our  party,  in  addition  to 
this  gentleman  and  myself,  consisted  of  two  ladies,  two  children, 
and  two  experienced  guides,  whose  services  were  of  the  utmost 
importance,  not  only  in  indicating  the  path,  but  in  removing 
windfalls  and  other  obstructions,  and  in  assisting  members  of 
the  party  over  difficult  and  dangerous  places. 

We  followed  the  carriage  road  for  two  miles,  and  then  struck 
off  to  the  left  by  a  bridle  path  that  seemed  not  to  have  been 
used  for  several  years — the  gentlemen  and  guides  on  foot,  the 
ladies  and  children  mounted  on  the  sure-footed  ponies  used  in 
these  ascents.  Our  path  wound  around  a  spur  of  the  mountain, 
over  rocky  and  uneven  ground,  much  of  the  rock  being  mica 
slate,  with  beautiful  cruciform  crystals  of  andalusite,  which 
seemed  larger  and  finer  here  than  in  any  other  part  of  the 
mountain  which  I  visited.  At  first  the  vegetation  was  not 
materially  different  from  that  of  the  lower  grounds,  but  as  we 
gradually  ascended  we  entered  the  "  evergreen  zone,"  and  passed 
through  dense  thickets  of  small  spruces  and  firs,  the  ground 
beneath  which  was  carpeted  with  moss,  and  studded  with  an 
immense  profusion  of  the  delicate  little  mountain  wood  sorrel 
(Oxalis  acetosella),  a  characteristic  plant  of  wooded  hills  on 
both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  and  which  I  had  not  before  seen  in 
such  profusion  since  I  had  roamed  on  the  hills  of  Lochaber 
Lake  in  Nova  Scotia.  Other  herbaceous  plants  were  rare,  ex- 
cept ferns  and  club  mosses ;  but  we  picked  up  an  aster  (A. 
acuminatus\  a  golden  rod  (Solidago  thyrsoidea\  and  the  very 
pretty  tway  blade  (Listera  cordata\  a  species  3  very  widely  dis- 
tributed throughout  British  America. 

1  Peck,   Bigelow  and  Booth  were  the  early  botanical  explorers  of  the 
White  Mountains  ;  though   Pursh  was  the  first  to  determine  some  of  the 
more  interesting  plants,  and  Oakes  and  Tuckerman  deserve  honourable  men- 
tion, as  the  most  thorough  modern  explorers. 

2  Mr.  Raymond.  8  L.  macrophylla  Pursh  (Macoun). 


428  ALPINE   AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS 

In  ascending  the  mountain  directly,  the  spruces  of  this  zone 
gradually  degenerate,  until  they  present  the  appearance  of  little 
gnarled  bushes,  flat  on  top  and  closely  matted  together,  so  that 
except  where  paths  have  been  cut,  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
penetrate  among  them.  Finally,  they  lie  flat  on  the  ground, 
and  become  so  small  that,  as  Lyell  remarks,  the  reindeer  moss 
may  be  seen  to  overtop  the  spruces.  This  dwarfing  of  the 
spruces  and  firs  is  the  effect  of  adverse  circumstances,  and  of 
their  struggle  to  extend  their  range  toward  the  summit.  Year 
by  year  they  stretch  forth  their  roots  and  branches,  bending 
themselves  to  the  ground,  clinging  to  the  bare  rocks,  and  avail- 
ing themselves  of  every  chasm  and  fissure  that  may  cover  their 
advance ;  but  the  conditions  of  the  case  are  against  them.  If 
their  front  advances  in  summer,  it  is  driven  back  in  winter,  and 
if  in  a  succession  of  mild  seasons  they  are  able  to  gain  a  little 
ground,  less  favourable  seasons  recur,  and  wither  or  destroy  the 
holders  of  their  advanced  positions.  For  thousands  of  years 
the  spruces  and  firs  have  striven  in  this  hopeless  escalade,  but 
about  4,000  feet  above  the  sea  seems  to  be  the  limit  of  their 
advance,  and  unless  the  climate  shall  change,  or  these  trees 
acquire  a  new  plasticity  of  constitution,  the  genus  Abies  can 
never  displace  the  hardier  alpine  inhabitants  above,  and  plant 
its  standard  on  the  summit  of  Mount  Washington. 

I  was  struck  by  the  similarity  of  this  dwarfing  of  the  upper 
edges  of  the  spruce  woods,  to  that  which  I  have  often  observed 
on  the  exposed  northern  coasts  of  Cape  Breton  and  Prince 
Edward  Island,  where  the  woods  often  gradually  diminish  in 
height  toward  the  beach  or  the  edge  of  a  cliff,  till  the  external 
row  of  plants  clings  closely  to  the  soil,  or  rises  above  it  only  a 
few  inches.  The  causes  are  the  same,  but  the  appearance  is 
more  marked  on  the  mountain  than  on  the  coast.  It  is  in  minia- 
ture a  picture  of  the  gradual  dwarfing  of  vegetation  in  the  great 
barren  grounds  of  Arctic  America. 

On  the  path  which  we  followed,  before  we  reached  the  uppei 


ALPINE  AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS  429 

limit  of  trees,  we  arrived  at  the  base  of  a  stupendous  cliff, 
forming  the  termination  of  a  promontory  or  spur  of  the  moun- 
tain, separating  Tuckerman's  Ravine  from  another  deep  de 
pression  known  as  the  Great  Gulf.  From  the  top  of  this 
precipice  poured  a  little  cascade,  that  lost  itself  in  spray  long 
before  it  touched  the  tops  of  the  trees  below.  The  view  at  this 
place  was  the  most  impressive  that  it  was  my  fortune  to  see  in 
these  hills. 

Opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Gulf,  and  I  suppose  at  a 
height  of  about  3,000  feet,  is  a  little  pond  known  as  Hermit 
Lake.  It  is  nearly  circular,  and  appears  to  be  retained  by  a 
ridge  of  stones  and  gravel,  perhaps  an  old  moraine  or  sea  beach. 
On  its  margin  piped  a  solitary  sandpiper,  a  few  dragon  flies 
flitted  over  its  surface,  and  tadpoles  in  the  bottom  indicated 
that  some  species  of  frog  dwells  in  its  waters.  .High  overhead, 
and  skirting  the  edges  of  the  precipices,  soared  an  eagle, 
intent,  no  doubt,  on  the  hares  that  frequent  the  thickets  of 
the  ravines. 

Before  we  reached  Hermit  Lake  we  had  been  obliged  to 
leave  our  horses,  and  now  we  turned  aside  to  the  left  and  entered 
Tuckerman's  ravine,  where  there  is  no  path,  but  merely  the  bed 
of  a  brook,  whose  cold  clear  water  tumbles  in  a  succession  of 
cascades  over  huge  polished  masses  of  white  gneiss,  while  on 
both  sides  of  it  the  bottom  of  the  ravine  is  occupied  by  dense 
and  almost  impenetrable  thickets  of  the  mountain  alder  (Alnus 
viridis), 

Tuckerman's  Ravine  has  been  formed  originally  either  by  a 
subsidence  of  a  portion  of  the  mountain  side,  or  by  the  action 
of  the  sea.  It  is,  like  most  of  the  ravines  and  "  gulfs"  of  these 
hills,  a  deep  cut  or  depression  bounded  by  precipitous  sides 
and  terminating  at  the  top  in  a  similarly  precipitous  manner. 
It  must  at  one  period  have  been  in  part  filled  with  boulder  clay, 
steep  banks  of  which  still  remain  in  places  on  its  sides ;  and 
extensive  landslips  have  occurred,  by  which  portions  of  the  limit 


430  ALPINE   AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS 

ing  cliffs  have  been  thrown  toward  the  centre  of  the  valley,  in 
large  piles  of  angular  blocks  of  gneiss  and  mica  slate,  in  the 
spaces  between  which  grow  gnarled  birches  and  spruces  that 
must  be  used  as  ladders  and  bridges  whereby  to  scramble  from 
block  to  block,  by  every  one  who  would  cross  or  ascend  one  of 
these  rivers  of  stones.  These  "gulfs  "  of  the  White  Mountains 
are  similar  to  the  "  cirques  "  of  the  Alps,  and  various  explana- 
tions have  been  given  of  their  origin.  To  me  they  have  always 
appeared  to  be  of  the  same  nature  with  the  "  chines  "  or  bays 
with  precipitous  ends  seen  on  rocky  coasts,  and  which  are  pro- 
duced by  the  action  of  the  surf  on  the  softer  beds  or  veins  of 
rock.  They  testify  to  the  raging  of  the  waves  for  long  ages 
against  the  sides  of  what  are  now  lofty  mountains.  This,  we 
know,  must  have  occurred  in  the  great  Pleistocene  submergence; 
but  in  mountains  so  old  as  those  now  in  question,  it  may  have 
in  part  been  effected  in  previous  periods. 

At  the  head  of  the  ravine  we  paused  to  rest,  to  admire  the 
wild  prospect  presented  by  the  ravine  and  its  precipitous  sides, 
and  to  collect  the  numerous  plants  that  flower  on  the  surround- 
ing slopes  and  precipices.  Here,  on  the  i9th  of  August,  were 
several  large  patches  of  snow,  one  of  them  about  a  hundred 
yards  in  length.  From  the  precipice  at  the  head  of  the  ravine 
poured  hundreds  of  little  rills,  and  several  of  them  collecting 
into  a  brook,  had  excavated  in  the  largest  mass  of  snow  a  long 
tunnel  or  cavern  with  an  arched  and  groined  roof.  Under  the 
front  of  this  we  took  our  mid-day  meal,  with  the  hot  August 
sun  pouring  its  rays  in  front  of  us,  and  icy  water  gurgling  among 
the  stones  at  our  feet.  Around  the  margin  of  the  snow  the 
vegetation  presented  precisely  the  same  appearances  which 
are  seen  in  the  low  country  in  March  and  April,  when  the 
snow  banks  have  just  disappeared — the  old  grass  bleached 
and  whitened,  and  many  perennial  plants  sending  up  blanched 
shoots  which  had  not  yet  experienced  the  influence  of  the 
sunlight. 


ALPINE   AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS  43! 

The  vegetation  at  the  head  of  this  ravine  and  on  the  preci- 
pices that  overhang  it,  presents  a  remarkable  mixture  oflowland 
and  mountain  species.  The  head  of  the  ravine  is  not  so  high 
as  the  limit  of  trees  already  stated,  but  its  steep  sides  rise 
abruptly  to  a  plateau  of  5,000  feet  in  height,  intervening  between 
Mount  Washington  and  Mount  Munro,  and  on  which  are  the 
dark  ponds  or  tarns  known  as  the  Lakes  of  the  Clouds,  forming 
the  sources  of  the  Amonoosook  river,  which  flows  in  the  opposite 
direction.  From  this  plateau  many  alpine  plants  stretch  down- 
ward into  the  ravine,  while  lowland  plants,  availing  themselves 
of  the  shelter  and  moisture  of  this  cul-de-sac,  climb  boldly 
upward  almost  to  the  higher  plateau.  Other  species  again  occur 
here,  which  are  found  neither  on  the  exposed  alpine  summits 
and  ridges,  nor  in  the  low  country.  Conspicuous  among  the 
hardy  climbers  are  two  coarse  and  poisonous  weeds  of  the  river 
valleys,  that  look  like  intruders  into  the  company  of  the  more 
dwarfish  alpine  plants ; — the  cow  parsnip  (Heracleum  lanatuni) 
and  the  white  hellebore  (  Veratrum  viride).  Both  of  these  plants 
were  seen  struggling  up  through  the  ground  at  the  margin  of  the 
snow,  and  climbing  up  moist  hollows  almost  to  the  tops  of  the 
precipices.  Some  specimens  of  the  latter  were  crowded  with 
the  infant  caterpillars  of  a  mountain  butterfly  or  moth.  Less 
conspicuous,  and  better  suited  to  the  surrounding  vegetation, 
were  the  bluets  (Oldenlandia  coerulea),  now  in  blossom  here,  as 
they  had  been  months  before  in  the  low  country,  the  dwarf 
cornel  ( Cornus  Canadensis\  and  the  twin  flower  (Linnceaborealis), 
the  latter  reaching  quite  to  the  plateau  of  the  I^ke  of  the 
Clouds,  and  entering  into  undisputed  companionship  with  the 
truly  alpine  plants,  though  it  is  also  found  at  Gorham,  4,000 
feet  lower. 

Of  the  plants  which  seemed  to  be  confined,  or  nearly  so,  to 
the  upper  part  of  the  ravine,  one  of  the  most  interesting  was 
the  northern  painted  cup  (Castelleia  septentrionalis),  a  plant 
which  abounds  on  the  coast  of  Labrador,  and  extends  thence 


432  ALPINE   AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS 


through  all  Arctic  North  America  to  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
and  is  perhaps  identical  with  the  C.  Sibirica  of  Northern  Asia 
and  the  C.  pallida  of  Northern  Europe.  Large  beds  of  it  were 
covered  with  their  pale  yellow  blossoms  on  the  precipitous 
banks  overhanging  the  head  of  the  ravine.  With  the  painted 
cup,  and  here  alone,  was  another  beautiful  species  of  a  very 
different  order,  the  northern  green  orchis  (Platanthera  hyper- 
borea),  a  plant  which  occurs,  though  rarely,  in  Canada,  but  is 
more  abundant  to  the  northward.  Here  also  occurred  Peck's 
geum  (G.  radiatum,  var.\  Arnica  mollis,  and  several  other  in- 
teresting plants. 

Of  the  alpine  plants  which  descend  into  the  ravine,  the  most 
interesting  was  the  Greenland  sandwort  (Arenaria  (Alsine) 
Groenlandica)  which  was  blooming  abundantly,  with  its  clusters 
of  delicate  white  flowers,  on  the  very  summit  of  the  mountain, 
and  could  be  found  here  and  there  by  the  side  of  the  brook  in 
the  bottom  of  the  ravine. 

Clambering  by  a  steep  and  dangerous  path  up  the  right  side 
of  the  ravine,  we  reach  almost  at  once  the  limit,  beyond 
which  the  ordinary  flora  of  New  England  can  extend  no  longer, 
and  are  in  the  presence  of  a  new  group  of  plants  comparable  with 
those  of  Labrador  and  Greenland.  Here,  on  the  plateau  of  the 
Lake  of  the  Clouds,  the  traveller  who  has  ascended  the  giddy 
precipices  overhanging  Tuckerman's  Ravine  is  glad  to  pause,  that 
he  may  contemplate  the  features  of  the  new  region  which  he 
has  reached.  We  have  left  the  snow  behind  us,  except  a  small 
patch  which  lingers  on  the  shady  side  of  Mount  Munro;  for 
it  is  only  in  the  ravines  into  which  it  has  drifted  a  hundred 
feet  deep  or  more,  that  it  can  withstand  the  summer  heat  until 
August.  We  stand  on  a  dreary  waste  of  hard  angular  blocks  of 
mica  slate  and  gneiss  that  lie  in  rude  ridges,  as  if  they  had  been 
roughly  raked  up  by  Titans,  who  might  have  been  trying  to  pile 
Monro  upon  Washington,  but  which  seem  to  be  merely  the 
remains  of  the  original  outcropping  edges  of  the  rocks  broken  up 


ALPINE  AND  ARCTIC   PLANTS  433 

by  the  frost,  but  not  disturbed  or  rounded  by  water.1  Behind 
us  is  the  deep  trench-like  ravine  out  of  which  we  have  climbed  ; 
on  the  left  hand  a  long  row  of  secondary  summits  stretching 
out  from  Mount  Washington  to  the  south-westward,  and  desig- 
nated by  the  names  of  a  series  of  American  statesmen.  In  front 
this  range  descends  abruptly  in  great  wooded  spurs  or  buttresses 
to  the  valley  of  the  Amonoosook,  which  shines  in  silvery 
spots  through  the  trees  far  below.  On  our  right  hand  towers 
the  peak  of  Mount  Washington,  still  more  than  a  thousand  feet 
above  us,  and  covered  with  angular  blocks,  as  if  it  were  a  pile 
of  fragments  rather  than  a  solid  rock.  These  stones  all  around 
and  up  to  the  summit  of  the  mountain,  are  tinted  pale  green  by 
the  map  lichen  (Lecidea  geographica),  which  tinges  in  the  same 
way  the  alpine  summits  of  European  mountains.  Between  the 
blocks  and  on  their  sheltered  sides  nestle  the  alpine  flowering 
plants,  of  which  twenty  species  or  more  may  be  collected  on 
this  shoulder  of  the  mountain,  and  some  of  which  extend  them- 
selves to  the  very  summit,  where  Alsine  Granlandica  and  the 
little  tufts  of  deep  green  leaves  of  Diapensia  Lapponica  with  a 
few  Carices  seem  to  luxuriate.  Animal  life  accompanies  these 
plants  to  the  summit,  near  which  I  saw  a  family  of  the  snow 
bird,  evidently  summer  residents  here,  instead  of  seeking  the 
far  north  for  a  breeding  place,  as  is  the  habit  of  the  species,  and 
a  number  of  insects,  conspicuous  among  which  was  a  brown 
butterfly  of  the  genus  Hipparchia.  Shortly  before  sundown, 
when  the  thermometer  at  the  summit  house  was  fast  settling 
toward  the  freezing  point,  a  number  of  swallows  were  hawking 
for  flies  at  a  great  height  above  the  highest  peak.  To  what 

1  Hitchcock  has  since  found  travelled  blocks  on  the  summit,  bearing  evi- 
dence to  its  submergence  under  the  waves  of  the  glacial  sea,  and  to  the 
grinding  of  ice  floes  upon  it.  Such  a  fact  helps  to  account  for  the  broken 
character  of  the  summit,  and  also  implies  that  unequal  subsidence  of  the 
land  elsewhere  referred  to,  since  we  know  of  no  agency  which  could  carry 
boulders  so  high  as  the  present  mountain  top. 


434  ALPINE   AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS 

species  they  belonged  I  could  not  ascertain.  Possibly  the  cliff 
swallows  find  breeding  places  in  the  sides  of  the  ravines, 
and  rise  over  the  hill  top  to  bask  in  the  sunbeams,  after  the 
mountain  has  thrown  its  shadows  over  their  homes. 

To  return  to  the  Alpine  flora  which  is  peculiar  to  the  peaks 
of  these  mountains — are  the  species  comprising  it  autochthones 
originating  on  these  hill  tops,  and  confined  to  them,  or  are  they 
plants  occurring  elsewhere,  and  if  so,  where?  and  how  and 
when  did  they  migrate  to  their  present  abodes  ?  These  are 
questions  which  must  occur  to  every  one  interested  in  geology, 
botany,  or  physical  geography. 

Not  one  of  the  Alpine  plants  of  Mount  Washington  is  peculiar 
to  the  place.  Nearly  all  of  them  are  distinct  from  the  plants  of 
the  neighbouring  lowlands,  but  they  occur  on  other  hills  of  New 
England  and  New  York,  and  on  the  distant  coasts  of  Labrador 
and  Greenland,  and  some  of  them  are  distributed  over  the 
Arctic  regions  of  Europe,  Asia  and  America.  In  short,  they 
are  stragglers  from  that  Arctic  flora  which  encompasses  the 
north  polar  region,  and  extends  in  promontories  and  islands 
along  the  high  cold  mountain  summits  far  to  the  southward. 

Some  of  the  humble  flowerless  plants  of  these  hills  are  of 
nearly  world-wide  distribution.  I  have  already  noticed  the  pale 
green  map  lichen  which  tints  the  rocks  of  the  Pyrenees,  the 
Alps,  and  the  Scottish  Highlands  ;  and  the  curious  ring  lichen 
(Parmelia  centrifuga)  paints  its  conspicuous  rings  and  arcs  of 
circles  alike  on  Mount  Washington  and  the  Scottish  hills.  A 
little  club  moss  (Lycopodium  selago)  is  not  only  widely  dis- 
tributed over  the  northern  hemisphere,  but  Hooker  has  recog- 
nised it  in  the  Antarctic  regions.  Not  long  ago  we  unrolled  in 
Montreal  an  Egyptian  mummy,  preserved  in  the  oldest  style  of 
embalming,  and  found  that,  to  preserve  the  odour  of  the  spices, 
quantities  of  a  lichen  (Evernia  furfuracea)  had  been  wrapped 
around  the  body,  and  have  no  doubt  been  imported  into  Egypt 
from  Lebanon,  or  the  hills  of  Macedonia,  for  such  uses.  Yet 


ALPINE  AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS  435 

the  specimens  from  this  old  mummy  were  at  once  recognised 
by  Professor  Tuckerman  as  identical  with  this  species  as  it 
occurs  on  the  White  Hills  and  on  Katahdin,  in  Maine.  These 
facts  are,  however,  easily  explicable  in  comparison  with  those 
that  relate  to  the  flowering  plants. 

The  spores  of  lichens  and  mosses  float  lighter  than  the  light- 
est down  in  the  air,  and  may  be  wafted  over  land  and  sea,  and 
dropped  everywhere  to  grow  where  conditions  may  be  favour- 
able. We  can  form  an  idea  of  this  from  the  fact  that  the  vol- 
canic dust,  consisting  of  shreds  of  pumice,  etc.,  thrown  up  by 
the  eruption  of  Krakatoa,  in  1 883,  was  wafted,  in  a  day  or  two, 
round  the  globe,  and  remained  suspended  for  months  in  the 
atmosphere.  The  spores  of  many  cryptogamous  plants  are 
even  lighter  than  volcanic  dust.  Had  the  Egyptian  embalmer 
used  some  of  the  first  created  specimens  of  Evernia  furfuracea, 
it  might  easily,  within  the  three  thousand  years  or  so  since  his 
work  was  done,  have  floated  round  the  world  and  established 
itself  on  the  White  Hills.  But,  as  we  shall  see,  neither  the  time 
nor  means  would  suffice  for  the  flowering  plants.  The  only 
available  present  agency  for  the  transmission  of  these  would  be 
in  the  crops  or  the  plumage  of  the  migratory  birds  ;  and  when 
we  consider  how  few  of  these,  on  their  migrations  from  the 
north,  could  ever  alight  on  these  hills,  and  the  rarity  of  their 
carrying  seeds  in  a  state  fit  to  vegetate,  and  further,  that  few  of 
these  plants  produce  fruits  edible  by  birds,  or  seeds  likely  to 
attach  themselves  to  their  feathers,  the  chances  become  infi- 
nitely small  of  their  transmission  in  this  way.  The  most  profit- 
able course  of  investigation  in  this  and  most  other  cases  of 
apparently  unaccountable  geographical  distribution,  is  to  inquire 
as  to  the  past  geological  conditions  of  the  region,  and  how 
these  may  have  affected  the  migrations  of  plants. 

The  earlier  geological  history  of  these  mountains  far  ante- 
dates our  existing  vegetation.  It  belongs,  in  the  first  instance, 
to  the  Archaean  and  early  Palaeozoic  period,  in  which  the 


436  ALPINE   AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS 

materials  of  these  mountains  were  accumulating,  as  beds  of  clay 
and  gravel,  in  the  sea  bottom.  These  were  buried  under  great 
depths  of  newer  deposits,  and  were  folded  and  crumpled  by 
lateral  pressure,  baked  and  metamorphosed  into  their  present 
crystalline  condition.1  Again  heaved  above  the  sea  level,  they 
were  hewn  by  the  action  of  the  waves  to  some  degree  into  their 
present  forms,  and  constituted  part  of  the  nucleus  of  the 
American  continent  in  the  later  Tertiary  period,  when  they  were 
probably  higher  than  now.  They  were  again,  with  all  the  sur- 
rounding land,  depressed  under  the  sea  in  the  Pleistocene 
period,  and  in  the  Post-glacial  or  modern,  slowly  upheaved 
again  to  their  present  height.  These  last  changes  are  those  that 
concern  their  present  flora,  and  their  relations  to  it  are  well 
stated  by  Sir  C.  Lyell  in  the  following  passages  from  his  inter- 
esting account  of  his  ascent  of  Mount  Washington  in  1840. 

"  If  we  attempt  to  speculate  on  the  manner  in  which  the 
peculiar  species  of  plants  now  established  on  the  highest  sum- 
mits of  the  White  Mountains  were  enabled  to  reach  those 
isolated  spots,  while  none  of  them  are  met  with  in  the  lower 
lands  around,  or  for  a  great  distance  to  the  north,  we  shall  find 
ourselves  trying  to  solve  a  philosophical  problem  which  requires 
the  aid,  not  of  botany  alone,  but  of  geology,  or  a  knowledge  of 
the  geographical  changes  which  immediately  preceded  the 
present  state  of  the  earth's  surface.  We  have  to  explain  how 
an  Arctic  flora,  consisting  of  plants  specifically  identical  with 
those  which  inhabit  lands  bordering  the  sea  in  the  extreme 
north  of  America,  Europe  and  Asia,  could  get  to  the  top  of 
Mount  Washington.  Now  geology  teaches  us  that  the  species 
living  at  present  on  the  earth  are  older  than  many  parts  of  our 
existing  continents  ;  that  is  to  say,  they  were  created  before  a 
large  portion  of  the  existing  mountains,  valleys,  plains,  lakes, 

1  While  the  mass  of  the  White  Mountains  is  probably  older  than  the 
Silurian,  there  are  beds  of  mica  schist  which  contain  corals  of  the  genus 
Halysites,  and  stems  of  large  crinoids. 


ALPINE  AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS  437 

rivers,  and  seas  were  formed.  That  such  must  be  the  case  in 
regard  to  Sicily  I  announced  my  conviction  in  1833,  after  first 
returning  from  that  country ;  and  a  similar  conclusion  is  no 
less  obvious  to  any  naturalist  who  has  studied  the  structure  of 
North  America,  and  observed  the  wide  area  occupied  by  the 
modern  or  glacial  deposits,  in  which  marine  shells  of  living  but 
northern  species  are  entombed.  It  is  clear  that  a  great  portion 
of  Canada,  and  the  country  surrounding  the  great  lakes,  was 
submerged  beneath  the  ocean  when  recent  species  of  molluska 
flourished,  of  which  the  fossil  remains  occur  about  500  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea  at  Montreal.  Lake  Champlain  was  a 
gulf  or  strait  of  the  sea  at  that  period,  large  areas  in  Maine  were 
under  water,  and  the  White  Mountains  must  then  have  consti- 
tuted an  island  or  group  of  islands.  Yet,  as  this  period  is  so 
modern  in  the  earth's  history  as  to  belong  to  the  epoch  of  the 
existing  marine  fauna,  it  is  fair  to  infer  that  the  Arctic  flora,  now 
contemporary  with  this,  was  then  also  established  on  the  globe. 
"  A  careful  study  of  the  present  distribution  of  animals  and 
plants  over  the  globe  has  led  nearly  all  the  best  naturalists  to 
the  opinion  that  each  species  had  its  origin  in  a  single  birth- 
place, and  spread  gradually  from  its  original  centre  to  all  access- 
ible spots  fit  for  its  habitation,  by  means  of  the  powers  of 
migration  given  to  it  from  the  first.  If  we  adopt  this  view,  or 
the  doctrine  of  specific  centres,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  compre- 
hending how  the  Cryptogamous  plants  of  Siberia,  Lapland, 
Greenland  and  Labrador  scaled  the  heights  of  Mount  Washing- 
ton, because  the  sporules  of  the  fungi,  lichens  and  mosses  may 
be  wafted  through  the  air  for  indefinite  distances,  like  smoke ; 
and,  in  fact,  heavier  particles  are  actually  known  to  have  been 
carried  for  thousands  of  miles  by  the  wind.  But  the  cause  of 
the  occurrence  of  Arctic  plants  of  the  Phccnogamous  class  on 
the  top  of  the  New  Hampshire  Mountains,  specifically  identical 
with  those  of  remote  polar  regions,  is  by  no  means  so  obvious. 
They  could  not  in  the  present  condition  of  the  earth  effect  a 


438  ALPINE  AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS 

passage  over  the  intervening  lowlands,  because  the  extreme 
heat  of  summer  and  cold  of  winter  would  be  fatal  to  them. 
We  must  suppose,  therefore,  that  originally  they  extended  their 
range  in  the  same  way  as  the  plants  now  inhabiting  Arctic  and 
Antarctic  lands  disseminate  themselves.  The  innumerable 
islands  in  the  polar  seas  are  tenanted  by  the  same  species  of 
plants,  some  of  which  are  conveyed  as  seeds  by  animals  over 
the  ice,  when  the  sea  is  frozen  in  winter,  or  by  birds ;  while  a 
still  larger  number  are  transported  by  floating  icebergs  and  field 
ice,  on  which  soil  containing  the  seeds  of  plants  may  be  carried 
in  a  single  year  for  hundreds  of  miles.  A  great  body  of  geo- 
logical evidence  has  now  been  brought  together  to  show  that 
this  machinery  for  scattering  plants,  as  well  as  for  carrying 
erratic  blocks  southward,  and  polishing  and  grooving  the  floor 
of  the  ancient  ocean,  extended  in  the  western  hemisphere  to 
lower  latitudes  than  that  of  the  White  Mountains.  When  these 
last  still  constituted  islands,  in  a  sea  chilled  by  the  melting  of 
floating  ice,  we  may  assume  that  they  were  covered  entirely  by 
a  flora  like  that  now  confined  to  the  uppermost  or  treeless 
region  of  the  mountains,  except  in  such  portions  of  the  period 
as  were  sufficiently  cold  to  clothe  their  summits  permanently  in 
snow.  As  the  continent  grew  by  the  slow  upheaval  of  the  land, 
and  the  islands  gained  in  height,  and  the  climate  around  these 
hills  grew  milder,  the  Arctic  plants  would  retreat  to  higher 
zones,  and  finally  occupy  an  elevated  area,  which  probably  had 
been,  at  first,  or  in  the  Glacial  period,  always  covered  with  per- 
petual snow.  Meanwhile  the  newly  formed  plains  around  the 
base  of  the  mountain,  to  which  northern  species  of  plants  could 
not  spread,  would  be  occupied  by  others  migrating  from  the 
south,  and  perhaps  by  many  trees,  shrubs,  and  plants,  then  first 
created,  and  remaining  to  this  day  peculiar  to  North  America." 
The  time  to  which  the  above  views  of  Sir.  C.  Lyell  would 
refer  the  migration  of  the  White  Mountain  flora,  is  historically, 
very  remote.  The  changes  of  level  which  have  submerged  the 


ALPINE   AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS  439 

American  continent  and  re-elevated  its  land  have  occupied  long 
periods.  Whether,  with  Lyell,  we  measure  these  periods  by 
the  recession  of  the  Falls  of  Niagara,  or  by  the  growth  of  the 
alluvial  plain  of  the  Mississippi ;  or,  with  Agassiz,  by  the  exten- 
sion of  the  peninsula  of  Florida,  or  endeavour  to  estimate  the 
time  required  for  the  abrasion  and  deposition  of  the  great  mass 
of  clay  that  fills  the  valley  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  allowing 
for  the  reductions  of  the  antiquity  of  the  Glacial  period  arising 
from  recent  observations  and  calculations,  we  cannot  suppose 
that  less  than  8,000  or  10,000  years  have  elapsed  since  the 
Alpine  plants  of  the  White  Mountains  were  cut  off  from  all 
connection  with  their  Arctic  relatives.  Their  reign  upon  the 
mountain  tops  not  only  antedates  all  human  dynasties,  but 
probably  reaches  beyond  the  creation  of  man  himself,  and  many 
of  his  contemporaries. 

Positive  evidence  of  the  existence  of  some  of  these  plants 
during  a  large  portion  of  this  lapse  of  time  has  actually  been 
preserved  in  the  Pleistocene  deposits  of  Canada.  At  Green's 
Creek,  on  the  Ottawa,  in  nodules  in  the  clay  containing  marine 
shells,  and  coeval  with  the  Leda  clay  of  Montreal,  there  are 
numerous  remains  of  plants  that  have  been  embedded  in  this 
clay  at  a  time  when  the  Ottawa  valley  was  a  bay  or  estuary,  and 
when  the  Adirondack  Mountains  of  New  York  and  the  moun- 
tains of  New  England  were  two  rocky  islands,  separated  from 
each  other  and  from  the  mainland  on  the  north  by  wide  arms 
of  the  sea.  The  plants  found  in  these  nodules  all  appearto  be 
of  modern  species.  Several  of  these  plants  are  found  on  the 
White  Mountains,  and  they  are  all  northern  or  boreal,  but 
scarcely  Arctic,  belonging  as  they  do  to  the  southern  margin  of 
the  Arctic  land  species.  I  have  no  doubt  that  further  examina- 
tion of  these  deposits  will  lead  to  the  discovery  of  additional 
examples.  This  fact,  proving  as  it  does  the  existence  of  these 
species  at  the  period  in  which  the  theory  of  Lyell  and  Forbes 
requires  them  to  have  migrated,  is  in  itself  strong  corroborative 


440  ALPINE  AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS 

evidence.  We  can  say  that  some  of  these  species  were  waiting 
on  the  shores  of  the  north,  ready  to  be  drifted  to  the  insular 
spots  to  the  south-west,  and  that  their  seeds  were  actually  being 
washed  out  to  sea  by  the  streams  which  emptied  themselves 
into  the  then  estuary  of  the  Ottawa. 

Another  aspect  of  the  inquiry  is  that  which  relates  to  the 
reduction  of  temperature,  which  might  be  consequent  on  the 
great  depression  of  the  land  which  we  know  to  have  existed 
at  the  close  of  the  Tertiary  period,  a  fact  on  which  I  have 
insisted  in  former  papers  on  the  Pleistocene  deposits  of 
Canada.1  A  very  clever  writer  on  the  subject  of  geographical 
distribution2  has  pictured  the  case  of  a  subsiding  continent, 
with  the  fauna  and  flora  of  its  lowlands  becoming  gradually 
concentrated  on  the  spots  which  had  previously  been  Alpine 
summits,  but  now  reduced  to  low  and  temperate  islands.  But 
he  has  left  out  of  view  the  fact,  that  if  land  still  existed  in  mass 
in  the  Arctic  regions,  and  if  the  subsidence  was  that  of  land  in 
temperate  regions,  and  if  the  remaining  islands  were  encom- 
passed with  cold  and  ice-laden  currents,  then,  on  the  principles 
long  ago  so  well  stated  by  Sir  C.  Lyell,  these  islands  might 
have  a  mean  temperature  far  below  that  of  the  former  plains, 
and  might,  in  consequence,  be  suitable  only  to  such  an  Alpine 
flora  as  that  which  they  had  previously  borne. 

Now  this  is  precisely  what  seems  to  have  occurred  in  the 
Pleistocene  period.  The  Arctic  land  remained  in  great  mass, 
detaching  into  the  sea  annual  crops  of  icebergs  and  fields  of 
coast  ice,  which  have  strewed  all  the  northern  hemisphere  with 
boulders  :  the  temperate  regions  were  submerged,  except  a  few 
insular  spots.  These  are  the  very  conditions  required  for  a 
low  mean  temperature,  both  in  the  sea  and  on  the  land,  and 
these  geographical  conditions  correspond  precisely  with  the 
facts  as  indicated  by  the  fossil  animals  and  plants  of  the 

1  Canadian  Naturalist,  vul.  iv.  *  Wollaston. 


ALPINE  AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS  44! 

period.  We  must  bear  in  mind,  however,  that  under  certain 
contingencies  the  high  mountain  summits  might  have  been 
clad  in  snow  and  ice,  like  Greenland,  and  the  Alpine  plants 
might  have  been  able  to  live  only  on  their  margins. 

Further,  it  would  be  easy  to  show  that  the  Alpine  plants  of 
Mount  Washington  would  thrive  under  such  conditions  as 
those  supposed,  at  the  sea  level ;  a  low  and  equable  tempera- 
ture, with  a  moist  atmosphere,  being  that  which  they  most 
desire,  and  their  greatest  enemy  being  the  dry  parching  heat  of 
the  plains  of  the  temperate  regions.  Those  of  them,  such  as 
Potentilla  tridentata  and  Alsine  Grxnlandica,  which  occur  in 
low  ground  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States,  are  found 
under  shaded  woods,  in  damp  ravines,  or  on  the  moist  sea- 
coast  ;  and  as  we  follow  the  coasts  northward,  we  find  these 
plants,  on  these  and  on  neighbouring  islands,  in  lower  latitudes 
than  those  in  which  they  occur  inland.  This  is  well  seen  in 
Northern  New  Brunswick  and  in  the  south  shore  of  the  St. 
Lawrence,  where  several  northern  species  occur  in  shady  and 
moist  localities.  I  have,  for  example,  collected  Cornus  Suecica 
and  the  Alpine  birch  in  such  places.  When  the  summer  mists 
roll  around  the  summit  of  Mount  Washington,  it  is  in  every 
respect  the  precise  counterpart  of  an  islet  anywhere  on  the 
coast  of  America,  from  Cape  Breton  to  the  Arctic  seas,  and 
when  winter  wraps  everything  in  a  mantle  of  snow,  all  these 
lands  are  in  like  manner  under  the  same  conditions.  So,  in 
the  Pleistocene  period,  though  the  islets  of  the  White 
Mountains  may  have  experienced  a  less  degree  of  winter  cold, 
they  must  have  had  very  nearly  the  same  summer  temperature 
as  now ;  and  as  this  is  the  season  of  growth  for  our  Alpine  and 
Arctic  plants,  it  is  its  character  that  determines  the  suitableness 
of  the  locality  to  them. 

Those  stupendous  vicissitudes  of  land  and  water  which  have 
changed  the  aspect  of  continents,  and  swept  into  destruction 
races  of  gigantic  quadrupeds,  have  dealt  gently  with  these 


442  ALPINE   AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS 

Alpine  plants,  which  long  ages  ago  looked  out  upon  a  waste  of 
ice-laden  waters  that  had  engulfed  the  Pliocene  land  with  all 
its  inhabitants,  as  securely  as  they  now  look  down  upon  the 
pleasant  valleys  of  New  England.  It  is  curious,  too,  that  the 
humbler  tenants  of  the  sea  have  shared  a  similar  exemption. 
In  the  clay  banks  of  the  Saco,  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  and  mixed  with  the  remains  of  these  very  plants  in  the 
valley  of  the  Ottawa,  are  shells  that  now  live  in  the  Gulf  of  St. 
Lawrence  and  on  the  coast  of  Maine,  intermixed  with  other 
species  that  are  now  found  only  in  a  few  bays  of  the  Arctic 
seas.  Just  as  in  the  Post-pliocene  clays  of  the  Ottawa,  the  re- 
mains of  northern  plants  are  found  in  the  same  nodule  with 
those  QiLeda  glacialts,  so  now  similar  associations  maybe  taking 
place  on  the  coasts  at  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Fish  River. 
Truly,  in  nature  as  in  grace,  God  hath  chosen  the  weak  things 
of  the  world  to  confound  those  that  are  mighty,  and  has  left  in 
the  earth's  geological  history,  monuments  of  His  respect  and 
regard  for  the  humblest  of  His  works. 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  here  that  Greenland,  at  the  present 
time,  presents  conditions  as  to  vegetation  which  may,  in  some 
respects,  correspond  to  those  of  the  White  Mountains  in  Pleis- 
tocene times.  Its  flora,  though  altogether  Arctic,  contains  386 
species,  none  of  which  are  peculiar  to  it,  but  many  of  them 
range  quite  round  the  Polar  circle.  Of  those  that  are  not  so 
generally  distributed,  some,  more  especially  on  the  west  coast, 
are  common  to  Greenland  and  Arctic  America.  Others,  and  a 
larger  number,  more  especially  on  the  east  coast,  are  common 
to  Greenland,  Iceland  and  Norway,  between  which  and  Green- 
land there  may  have  been  a  closer  land  connection  than  now, 
in  Pliocene  and  Post-glacial  times. 

We  look  in  vain  among  the  Alpine  plants,  so  long  isolated  in 
these  mountains,  for  any  evidence  of  decided  change  in  specific 
characters.  The  Alpine  plants,  for  ages  separated  from  their 
Arctic  brethren,  are  true  to  their  kinds,  and  show  little  ten- 


ALPINE  AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS  443 

dency  to  vary,  and  none  to  adapt  themselves  to  new  forms  in 
the  sunny  plains  below.  This  is  especially  noteworthy  on 
Mount  Washington  and  the  neighbouring  peaks,  because  the 
soil  of  these  is  the  same  with  that  of  the  valleys.  Several  of 
the  plants  peculiar  to  these  hills,  as  the  black  crowberry 
(Empetrum  nigrum),  for  instance,  even  when  other  conditions 
are  favourable,  shun  rich  calcareous  soils,  and  affect  those  of 
granitic  origin.  In  many  cases  the  difference  in  soil  is  a  suffi- 
cient reason  for  the  non-occurrence  of  such  plants,  except  on 
certain  hills.  At  Murray  Bay,  and  on  the  shores  of  Lake 
Superior,  the  plant  above  named  occurs  only  on  the  Lauren- 
tian  gneiss.  In  Nova  Scotia,  its  relative,  Corema  Conradi,  is 
confined  to  the  granite  barrens  of  the  south  coast.  Many  such 
plants  skirt  the  whole  Laurentian  range  from  Labrador  to  Lake 
Superior,  but  refuse  to  extend  themselves  over  the  calcareous 
plains  of  Canada.  But  in  the  White  Hills  the  soil  of  the 
river  alluvium  is  the  same  micaceous  sand  that  fills  the  crevices 
of  the  rocks  in  the  mountains,  and  hence  there  is  no  obstruc- 
tion, in  so  far  as  soil  is  concerned,  to  the  diffusion  of  plants 
upward  and  downward  in  the  hills.  In  like  manner  there  is 
every  possible  condition  as  to  moisture  and  dryness,  sunshine 
and  shade,  in  both  localities.  These  circumstances  are  of  all 
others  the  most  favourable  to  such  variation  as  these  plants 
are  capable  of  undergoing.  The  case  is  the  same  with  that 
which  Hugh  Miller  so  strongly  puts  in  relation  to  the  species 
of  algse  that  occur  at  different  distances  below  high  water  mark 
on  the  coast  of  Scotland,  each  species  there  attaining  a  certain 
limit,  and  then,  instead  of  changing  to  suit  the  new  conditions, 
giving  place  to  another.  So  it  is  on  Mount  Washington  ;  and 
this,  whether  we  regard  the  lowland  plants  that  climb  to  a  cer- 
tain height,  and  there  stop,  the  plants  that  are  common  to  the 
base  and  summit,  or  the  plants  that  are  confined  to  the  latter. 
I  have  already  referred  to  the  evident  struggle  of  the  spruces 
and  firs,  and  the  plants  associated  with  them,  to  ascend  the 


444  ALPINE   AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS 

mountain,  and  the  same  remark  applies  to  all  the  plants  that 
one  after  another  cease  to  appear  at  various  heights  from  the 
lower  valleys.  One  by  one  they  become  stunted  and  depau- 
perated, and  then  cease,  without  any  semblance  of  an  attempt 
to  vary  into  new  and  hardier  forms.  And  this  must  have  been 
proceeding,  be  it  observed,  from  all  those  thousands  of  years 
that  have  elapsed  since  the  elevation  of  the  mountains  out  of 
the  glacial  seas.  It  is  to  be  observed,  also,  that  the  new  plants 
that  occur  in  ascending,  often  belong  to  different  genera  and 
families  from  those  left  behind,  not  to  closely  allied  species; 
and  in  the  few  cases  in  which  this  last  kind  of  change  occurs, 
there  is  no  graduation  into  intermediate  forms.  For  instance, 
Solidago  thyrsoidea  and  S.  virga-aurea  1  occur  around  the  base 
of  the  mountain,  and  for  some  distance  up  its  sides.  At  the 
height  of  four  to  five  thousand  feet  the  latter  only  remains, 
and  this  in  a  dwarfish  condition.  This  corresponds  to  its  dis- 
tribution elsewhere,  for,  according  to  Richardson,  it  occurs  in 
lat.  55°  to  65°  in  Arctic  America,  and  according  to  Hooker,  it  is 
found  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  while  it  also  occurs  in  the  hills 
of  Scotland,  and  very  abundantly  in  some  parts  of  Norway. 
In  the  White  Mountains  S.  thrysoidea  prevails  toward  the  base, 
S.  virga-aurea  toward  the  summit ;  and  at  the  top  of  Tucker- 
man's  ravine  I  found  the  former  of  these  golden  rods  in  blos- 
som, within  a  few  hundred  feet  of  the  latter,  each  preserving 
its  distinctive  peculiarities.  Much  has  lately  been  said  of  the 
appearance  of  specific  diversity  that  results  from  the  breaking 
up  of  the  continuity  of  the  geographical  areas  of  plants  by 
geological  changes  ;  but  here  we  probably  have  the  converse  of 
this.  The  mountain  species  is  no  doubt  a  part  of  the  older 
Arctic  flora,  the  other  perhaps  belong  to  a  more  modern  flora, 
and  they  have  met  on  the  sides  of  the  White  Hills. 

1  Macoun  thinks  that  most  of  the  specimens  referred  to  this  species  be- 
long to  the  allied  form,  S.  Mulllinallata,  Ast,  which  is  very  extensively  dis- 
tributed on  the  mountains  of  British  America  and  in  the  Arctic  regions. 


ALPINE  AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS  445 

Some  hardy  species  climb  from  the  plains  to  heights  of 
5,000  feet  or  more,  with  scarcely  even  the  usual  change  of 
being  depauperated,  and  then  suddenly  disappear.  This  is 
very  noteworthy  in  the  case  of  two  woodland  plants,  the  dwarf 
cornel  or  pigeon  berry  (Cornus  Canadensis),  and  the  twin- 
flower  (Linncea  borealis).  The  former  of  these  is  a  plant  most 
widely  distributed  over  northern  America,  and  probably  be- 
longs to  that  newer  flora  which  overspread  the  continent  after 
its  re-elevation.  In  August  this  plant  in  the  woods  around  the 
base  of  Mount  Washington  is  loaded  with  its  red  berries.  At 
an  elevation  of  four  to  five  thousand  feet  it  may  be  found  in 
bloom ;  above  this  a  few  plants  appear,  destitute  of  flowers, 
dwarfish  in  aspect,  and  nipped  by  cold,  and  then  the  species 
disappears.  No  doubt  the  birds  that  feed  on  its  little  drupes 
have  carried  it  up  the  mountain,  and  have  sown  it  a  little 
farther  up  than  the  limit  of  its  probable  reproductiveness. 
The  beautiful  little  Linncza  is  a  still  more  widely  distributed 
plant ;  for  it  occurs  on  the  hills  of  northern  Europe,  and  is 
found  across  the  whole  breadth  of  the  American  continent 
from  Nova  Scotia  to  the  Columbia  River.  It  is  almost  beyond 
question  a  member  of  the  old  Arctic  flora  which  colonized  the 
islands  of  the  Pleistocene  sea,  and  'has  descended  from  them 
on  all  sides  as  the  land  became  elevated.  This  plant  also 
climbs  Mount  Washington  to  a  height  of  5,000  feet,  and  pre- 
sents precisely  the  same  characters  on  the  top  as  at  the  bottom, 
only  losing  a  little  in  the  length  of  its  stem.  Specimens  bear- 
ing blossoms,  and  quite  in  the  same  stage  of  growth,  may  be 
collected  at  the  same  time  on  the  highest  shoulders  of  Mount 
Washington,  and  on  the  flats  at  Gorham.  The  Linncea  in  this 
is  true  to  its  designatioa  For,  as  if  it  belonged  to  it  to  sup- 
port the  reputation  of  the  great  systematist  after  whom  it  is 
named,  it  preserves  its  specific  characters  with  scarcely  a  tittle 
of  change  throughout  all  its  great  range.  One  cannot  see  this 
hardy  little  survivor  of  the  Glacial  period,  so  unchanging  yet  so 


446  ALPINE   AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS 

gentle,  so  modest  yet  so  adventurous,  so  wide  in  its  migrations 
yet  so  choice  in  the  selection  of  the  mossy  nooks  which  it 
adorns  with  its  pendant  bells,  and  renders  fragrant  with  its 
delicious  perfume,  without  praying  that  we  might,  in  these  days 
of  petty  distinctions  and  narrow  views,  be  favoured  with  more 
such  minds  as  that  of  the  great  Swede,  to  combine  the  little 
details  of  the  knowledge  of  natural  history  into  grand  views  of 
the  unity  of  nature. 

Another  plant  which,  being  less  dependent  on  shade  and 
shelter  than  the  Linnaa,  mounts  still  higher,  is  the  cowberry 
or  foxberry  ( Vaccinium  vitis-Idcea).  This,  also,  is  both  Euro- 
pean and  American,  and  is  probably  a  survivor  of  the  Pleis- 
tocene period.  It  still  occurs  in  at  least  one  locality  in  the 
low  country  of  Massachusetts,  and  on  the  coast  of  Maine.  It 
is  found  along  the  granitic  coast  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  extends 
thence  northward  to  the  Arctic  circle,  being  found  at  Great 
Bear  Lake  and  at  Unalaska.  This,  too,  is  a  most  unchanging 
species,  and  the  same  statement  may  be  made  respecting  the 
cloudberry  (Rubus  Chamcemorus),  the  black  crowberry  (Em- 
petrum  nigruni),  the  Labrador  tea  (Ledum  latifolium},  the 
three-toothed  cinquefoil  (Potentilla  tridentata),  which  grows 
on  the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  is  found  in  the  nodules  of 
the  Ottawa  clay,  the  same  in  every  detail  as  on  Mount  Wash- 
ington, the  bog  bilberry  (Vaccinium  uliginosum\  and  the 
dwarf  bilberry  ( V.  ccespitosuni).  Several  of  these,  too,  it  will  be 
observed,  are  berry-bearing  plants,  whose  seeds  must  be  de- 
posited in  all  kinds  of  localities  by  birds.  Yet  they  never 
occur  in  the  warm  plains,  nor  do  they  show  much  tendency 
to  vary  in  the  distant  and  somewhat  dissimilar  places  in  which 
they  occur.  In  the  case  of  most  of  these  species,  the  most 
careful  comparison  of  specimens  from  Mount  Washington 
with  those  from  Labrador,  shows  no  tittle  of  difference.  When 
we  consider  the  vast  length  of  time  during  which  such  species 
have  existed,  and  the  multiplied  vicissitudes  through  which 


ALPINE  AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS  447 

they  have  passed,  one  is  tempted  to  believe  that  it  is  the 
tendency  of  the  "struggle  for  existence"  to  confirm  and  ren- 
der permanent  the  characters  of  species  rather  than  to  modify 
them. 

Of  the  more  specially  Arctic  plants  which  have  held  their 
ground  unchanged  on  Mount  Washington,  the  following  are 
some  of  the  principal.  Diapensia  Lapponica,  in  beautiful  deep 
green  tufts,  ascends  quite  to  the  summit.  It  occurs  also  in  the 
Adirondack  Mountains,  on  Mount  Katahdin,  in  Maine,  and  on 
the  summit  of  Mount  Albert,  Gasp£  (Macoun).  It  is  found 
in  Labrador,  and,  according  to  Hooker,  extends  north  to 
Whale  Island,  in  the  Arctic  seas  ;  but  it  is  not  found  west  of 
the  Great  Fish  River.  It  occurs  also  on  the  mountains  of 
Lapland,  and  is  described  as  the  hardiest  plant  of  that  bleak 
region.  Arenaria  (A/sine)  Groenlandica,  the  Greenland  sand- 
wort,  adorns  with  its  clusters  of  white  flowers  every  sandy 
crevice  in  the  rocks  of  the  very  summit  of  Mount  Washington, 
and  is  trodden  under  foot  like  grass  by  the  hundreds  of  care- 
less sightseers  that  haunt  that  peak  in  summer ;  though  I 
should  add,  that  not  a  few  of  them  carry  off  little  tufts  as  a 
memento  of  the  mountains,  along  with  the  fragments  of  mica 
which  appear  to  form  the  ordinary  keepsakes  of  unscientific 
visitors.  It  is  a  most  frail  and  delicate  plant,  seemingly  alto- 
gether unsuited  to  the  dangerous  pre-eminence  which  it  seeks, 
yet  it  loves  the  bare,  unsheltered  mountain  peaks,  and  when  it 
occurs  in  the  more  sheltered  ravines,  has  only  its  stems  a  little 
longer  and  more  slender.  It  occurs  on  the  Adirondack 
Mountains  and  on  Katahdin,  where,  if  I  may  judge  from 
specimens  kindly  sent  to  me  by  Prof.  Goodale,  it  attains  to 
smaller  dimensions  than  on  Mount  Washington,  on  the  Cats- 
kills,  and  at  one  place  on  the  sea  coast  of  Maine.  I  have  not 
seen  it  in  Nova  Scotia,  but  it  ranges  north  to  Greenland. 

Another  of  the  truly  Arctic  plants  is  the  alpine  azalea  (Loi- 
seleuria  procumbent),  a  densely  tufted  mountain  shrub,  with 


448  ALPINE  AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS 

hard  glossy  leaves,  that  look  as  if  constructed  to  brave  ex- 
tremest  hardships.  It  is  found  on  the  mountains  of  Norway, 
at  the  height  of  3,550  feet  on  the  Scottish  hills,  according  to 
Watson,  and  according  to  Fuchs,  at  the  height  of  7,000  feet  in 
the  milder  climate  of  the  Venetian  Alps.  In  America  it  is 
found  in  Newfoundland,  in  Labrador,  at  4,000  feet  on  Mount 
Albert,  Gaspe,1  and  in  the  barren  grounds  from  lat.  65°  to  the 
extreme  Arctic  islands.  Gray  does  not  mention  its  occurrence 
elsewhere  in  the  United  States  than  the  summits  of  the  White 
Mountains.  A  member  of  the  same  family  of  the  heaths,  the 
yew-leaved  phyllodoce  (P.  taxifolia),  presents  a  still  more 
singular  distribution.  It  is  found  on  all  the  higher  mountains 
of  New  England  and  New  York,  and  occurs  also  on  the  moun- 
tains of  Scotland  and  Scandinavia,  but  its  only  known  station 
in  northern  America  is,  according  to  Hooker,  in  Labrador. 
As  many  as  nine  or  ten  of  the  Alpine  plants  of  the  White 
Mountains  belong  to  the  order  of  the  Heaths  (Ericacece). 
Another  example  from  this  order  is  Rhododendron  Lapponicum, 
a  northern  European  species,  as  its  name  indicates,  and  scat- 
tered over  all  the  high  mountains  of  New  England  and  New 
York,  occurring  also  in  Labrador,  on  the  Arctic  sea  coasts,  and 
the  northern  part  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  at  4,000  feet 
on  Mount  Albert,  Gasp£  (Macoun). 

It  would  be  tedious  to  refer  in  detail  to  more  of  these  plants, 
but  I  must  notice  two  herbaceous  species  belonging  to  differ- 
ent families,  but  resembling  each  other  in  size  and  habit — the 
Alpine  epilobium  (E.  alpinum  or  alsinefolium\  and  the  Alpine 
speedwell  ( Veronica  alpina).  Both  are  in  the  United  States 
confined  to  the  highest  mountain  tops.  Both  occur  as  alpine 
northern  plants  in  Europe,  being  found  on  the  Alps,  on  the 
Scottish  Highlands,  and  in  Scandinavia.  Both  are  found  in 
Labrador  and  on  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  the  Veronica  ex- 

1  Macoun. 


ALPINE  AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS  449 

tends  as  far  as  Greenland.  The  Alpine  epilobium  is  one  of  the 
few  White  Mountain  plants  that  have  attained  the  bad  emi- 
nence of  being  regarded  as  doubtful  species.  Gray  notes  as 
the  typical  form,  that  with  obtuse  and  nearly  entire  leaves,  and 
as  a  variety,  that  with  acute  and  slightly  toothed  leaves,  which 
some  other  botanists  seem  to  regard  as  distinct  specifically. 
Thus  we  find  that  this  little  plant  has  been  induced  to  assume 
a  suspicious  degree  of  variability ;  yet  it  is  strange  that  both 
species  or  varieties  are  found  growing  together,  as  if  the  little 
peculiarities  in  the  form  of  the  leaves  were  matters  of  indiffer- 
ence, and  not  induced  by  any  dire  necessities  in  the  struggle 
for  life.  Facts  of  this  kind  are  curious,  and  not  easily  explained 
under  the  supposition  either  of  specific  unity  or  diversity.  For 
why  should  this  plant  vary  without  necessity  ?  and  why  should 
two  species  so  much  alike  be  created  for  the  same  locality  ? 
Perhaps  these  two  species  or  varieties,  wandering  from  far 
distant  points  of  origin,  have  met  here  fortuitously,  while  the 
lines  of  migration  have  been  cut  off  by  geological  changes ;  and 
yet  the  points  of  difference  are  too  constant  to  be  removed, 
even  after  the  reason  for  them  has  disappeared.  If  this  could 
be  proved,  it  would  afford  a  strong  reason  for  believing  the 
existence  of  a  real  specific  diversity  in  these  plants. 

I  have  said  nothing  of  the  grasses  and  sedges  of  these  moun- 
tains ;  but  one  of  them  deserves  a  special  notice.  It  is  the 
Alpine  herd's  grass  (Phleum  alpinuni),  a  humble  relation  of  our 
common  herd's  grass.  This  plant  not  only  occurs  on  the 
White  Mountains,  in  Arctic  America,  in  the  Canadian  Moun- 
tains, from  the  summit  of  Mount  Albert,  in  Gaspe",  to  the 
mountains  of  British  Columbia,  and  on  the  hills  of  Scotland 
and  Scandinavia,  but  has  been  found  on  the  Mexican  Cordil- 
lera and  at  the  Straits  of  Magellan.  The  seeds  of  this  grass 
may  perhaps  be  specially  suited  for  transportation  by  water,  as 
well  as  by  land.  It  is  observed  in  Nova  Scotia  that  when  the 
wide  flats  of  mud  deposited  by  the  tides  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy, 


450  A    PINE   AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS 

are  dyked  in  from  the  sea,  they  soon  become  covered  with 
grasses  and  carices,  the  seeds  of  which  are  supposed  to  be 
washed  down  by  streams  and  mingled  with  the  marine  silt ; 
and  fragments  of  grasses  abound  in  the  Post-tertiary  clays  of 
the  Ottawa. 

It  seems  almost  ridiculous  thus  to  connect  the  persistence  of 
the  form  of  a  little  plant  with  the  subsidence  and  elevation  of 
whole  continents,  and  the  lapse  of  enormous  periods  of  time. 
Yet  the  Power  which  preserves  unchanged  from  generation  to 
generation  the  humblest  animal  or  plant,  is  the  same  with  that 
which  causes  the  permanence  of  the  great  laws  of  physical 
nature,  and  the  continued  revolutions  of  the  earth  and  all  its 
companion  spheres.  A  little  leaf,  entombed  ages  on  ages  ago 
in  the  Pleistocene  clays  of  Canada,  preserves  in  all  its  minutest 
features  the  precise  type  of  that  of  the  same  species  as  it  now 
lives,  after  all  the  prodigious  geological  changes  that  have 
intervened.  An  Arctic  and  Alpine  plant  that  has  survived  all 
these  changes  maintains,  in  its  now  isolated  and  far  removed 
stations,  all  its  specific  characters  unchanged.  The  flora  of  a 
mountain  top  is  precisely  what  it  must  have  been  when  it  was 
an  island  in  the  glacial  seas.  These  facts  relate  not  to  hard 
crystalline  rocks  that  remain  unaltered  from  age  to  age,  but  to 
little  delicate  organisms  that  have  many  thousands  of  times 
died  and  been  renewed  in  the  lapse  of  time.  They  show  us 
that  what  we  call  a  species  represents  a  decision  of  the  un- 
changing creative  will,  and  that  the  group  of  qualities  which 
constitutes  our  idea  of  the  species  goes  on  from  generation  to 
generation  animating  new  organisms  constructed  out  of  differ- 
ent particles  of  matter.  The  individual  dies,  but  the  species 
lives,  and  will  live  until  the  Power  that  has  decreed  its  creation 
shall  have  decreed  its  extinction  ;  or  until,  in  the  slow  process 
of  physical  change  depending  on  another  section  of  His  laws, 
it  shall  have  been  excluded  from  the  possibility  of  existence 
anywhere  on  the  surface  of  the  earth,  unless  we  suppose  with 


ALPINE  AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS  451 

modern  evolutionists  that  there  is  a  possibility  of  these  plants 
so  changing  their  characters  that  in  the  lapse  of  ages  they  might 
appear  to  us  to  be  distinct  specific  types.  The  fact,  however, 
that  the  Arctic  species  have  migrated  around  the  whole  Arctic 
circle,  and  have  advanced  southward  and  retreated  to  the  north, 
again  and  again,  without  changing  their  constitutions  or  forms, 
augurs  for  them  at  least  a  remarkable  fixity  as  well  as  con- 
tinuity. 

While  the  huge  ribs  of  mother  earth  that  project  into  moun- 
tain summits,  and  the  grand  and  majestic  movement  of  the 
creative  processes  by  which  they  have  been  formed,  speak  to 
us  of  the  majesty  of  Him  to  whom  the  sea  belongs,  and  whose 
hand  formed  the  dry  land,  the  continuance  of  these  little  plants 
preaches  the  same  lessons  of  humble  faith  in  the  Divine  pro- 
mises and  laws,  which  our  Lord  drew  from  the  lilies  of  the 
field. 

It  is  suggestive,  in  connection  with  the  antiquity  and  migra- 
tions of  these  plants,  to  consider  the  differences  in  this  respect 
of  some  closely  allied  species  of  the  same  genera.  Of  the 
blueberries  that  grow  on  the  White  Mountains,  one  species, 
Vaccinium  uliginosum,  is  found  in  Behring's  Straits  and 
very  widely  in  Arctic  and  boreal  America,1  also  in  northern 
Europe.  V.  ccespitosum  has  a  wide  northern  range  in  America, 
but  is  not  European.  V.  Pennsylvanicum  and  V.  Cana- 
dense,  from  their  geographical  distribution,  do  not  seem  to 
belong  to  the  Arctic  flora  at  all,  but  to  be  of  more  southern 
origin.  The  two  bearberries  (Arctostaphylos  uva-ursi  and 
alpina)  occur  together  on  the  White  Hills,  and  on  the  Scottish 
and  Scandinavian  mountains ;  but  the  former  is  a  plant  of 
much  wider  and  more  southern  distribution  in  America  than 
the  latter.  Two  of  the  dwarf  willows  of  the  White  Mountains 
(Salix  repens  and  S.  herbacea)  are  European  as  well  as 

1  Macoun,  Catalogue  of  Canadian  plants. 


452  ALPINE   AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS 

American,  but  S.  uva-ursi  seems  to  be  confined  to  America. 
Rubus  triflorus,  the  dwarf  raspberry,  and  R.  chamcemorus,  the 
cloud  berry,  climb  about  equally  high  on  Mount  Washington  ; 
but  the  former  is  exclusively  American,  and  ranges  pretty  far 
southward,  while  the  latter  extends  no  farther  south  than  the 
northern  coast  of  Maine,  and  is  distributed  all  around  the 
Arctic  regions  of  the  Old  and  New  Worlds.  It  is  to  be 
observed,  however,  that  the  former  can  thrive  on  rich  and 
calcareous  soils,  while  the  latter  loves  those  that  are  barren 
and  granitic ;  but  it  is  nevertheless  probable  that  R.  triflorus 
belongs  to  a  later  and  more  local  flora.  Similar  reasons  would 
induce  the  belief  that  the  American  dwarf  cornel  or  pigeon- 
berry  (Cornus  Canadensis),  whose  distribution  is  solely  Ameri- 
can, and  not  properly  Arctic,  is  of  later  origin  than  the  C. 
Suecica?  which  occurs  in  northern  America  locally,  and  is  ex- 
tensively distributed  in  northern  Europe. 

I  can  but  glance  at  such  points  as  these  ;  but  they  raise  great 
questions  which  are  to  be  worked  out,  not  merely  by  the  patient 
collection  of  facts,  but  by  a  style  of  scientific  thought  very 
much  above  those  which,  on  the  one  hand,  escape  such  prob- 
lems by  the  supposition  of  multiplied  centres  of  creation,  or 
on  the  other,  render  their  solution  worthless  by  confounding 
races  due  to  external  disturbing  causes  with  species  originally 
distinct.  Difficulties  of  various  kinds  are  easily  evaded  by 
either  of  these  extreme  views ;  but  with  the  fact  before  him  of 
specific  diversity  and  its  manifestly  long  continuance,  on  the 
one  hand,  and  the  remarkable  migrations  of  some  species  on 
the  other,  the  true  naturalist  must  be  content  to  work  out  the 
problems  presented  to  him  with  the  data  afforded  by  the  actual 
observation  of  nature,  following  carefully  the  threads  of  guid- 

1  I  have  found  C.  Suecica  growing  along  with  C.  Canadensis  in  shaded 
and  northern  exposures  on  the  south  side  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  near  Ca- 
conna  and  Metis.  Its  seeds  may  have  been  brought  over  from  Labrador 
by  migratory  birds. 


ALPINE  AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS  453 

ance  thus  indicated,  not  rudely  breaking  them  by  too  hasty 
generalizations. 

But  it  is  time  to  leave  the  scientific  teachings  of  our  little 
Alpine  friends,  and  to  inquire  if  they  can  teach  anything  to  the 
heart  as  well  as  to  the  head. 

The  mountains  themselves,  heaving  their  huge  sides  to  the 
heavens,  speak  of  forces  in  comparison  with  which  all  human 
power  is  nothing ;  and  we  can  scarcely  look  upon  them  in  their 
majesty  without  a  psalm  of  praise  rising  up  within  us  to  Him 
who  made  the  sea,  and  from  whose  hands  the  dry  land  took 
its  form.  As  we  ascend  them,  and  as  our  vision  ranges  more 
and  more  widely  over  the  tops  of  wooded  hills,  along  the 
courses  of  streams,  over  cultivated  valleys,  and  to  the  shores 
of  the  blue  sea  itself,  our  mental  vision  widens  too.  We  think 
that  the  great  roots  of  these  hills  run  beneath  a  whole  con- 
tinent, that  their  tops  look  down  on  the  wide  St.  Lawrence 
plain,  on  the  beautiful  valleys  of  New  England,  and  on  the 
rice  fields  of  the  sunny  south.  We  are  reminded  of  the  bro- 
therhood of  man,  which  overleaps  all  artificial  boundaries,  and 
should  cause  us  to  pray  that  throughout  their  whole  extent 
these  hills  may  rise  amidst  a  happy,  a  free,  and  a  God-fearing 
people. 

Our  Alpine  plants  have  still  higher  lessons  to  teach.  They 
are  fitting  emblems  of  that  little  flock,  scattered  everywhere, 
yet  one  in  heart,  and  in  all  lands  having  their  true  citizenship 
in  heaven.  They  tell  us  that  it  is  the  humble  who  are  nearest 
God,  and  they  ask  why  we  should  doubt  the  guardian  care  of 
the  Father  who  cares  for  them.  They  witness,  too,  of  the  lowly 
and  hidden  ones  who  may  inhabit  the  barren  and  lowly  spots 
of  earth,  yet  are  special  subjects  of  God's  love,  as  they  should 
be  of  ours.  We  may  thus  read  in  the  Alpine  plants  truths  that 
beget  deeper  faith  in  God,  and  closer  brotherhood  with  His 
people. 

The  history  of  these  plants  has  also  a  strange  significance. 


454  ALPINE   AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS   , 

It  might  have  been  written  of  them,  "  Though  the  dry  land  be 
removed  out  of  its  place,  and  the  mountains  cast  into  the  midst 
of  the  sea,  yet  the  Lord  will  not  forsake  the  work  of  His 
hands  "  •  for  this  has  been  literally  their  history.  In  this  they 
hold  forth  an  omen  of  hope  to  the  people  of  God  in  that  once 
happy  land  through  which  these  hills  extend,  and  who  now 
mourn  the  evil  times  on  which  they  have  fallen.  The  moun- 
tain plants  may  teach  them  that  though  the  floods  of  strife 
should  rise  even  to  the  tops  of  the  hills,  and  leave  but  scattered 
islets  to  mark  the  place  of  a  united  land,  their  rock  is  sure,  and 
their  prayers  will  prevail.1  The  power  that  has  waked  the  storm 
is  after  all  their  Father's  hand.  For  years  a  cry  has  risen  high 
above  these  hills :  the  cry  of  the  bondman  who  has  reaped  the 
fields  and  received  no  hire.  That  cry  is  sure  to  be  heard  in 
heaven,  whatever  other  prayers  may  go  unanswered.  An  apostle 
tells  us  that  it  enters  directly  into  the  ears  of  the  God  of 
Sabaoth,  and  is  potent  to  call  down  the  day  of  slaughter  on 
the  proud  ones  of  earth.  The  prayer  of  the  slave  has  been 
answered;  and  the  tempest  is  abroad,  sweeping  away  his 
oppressors  and  their  abettors.  Yet  God  rules  in  all  this,  and 
those  whom  He  has  chosen  will  be  spared,  even  like  the  hardy 
plants  of  the  hill  tops,  to  look  again  on  a  renewed  and  smiling 
land,  from  which  many  monsters  and  shapes  of  dread  have  for 
ever  passed  away. 

But  last  of  all,  the  Alpine  flowers  have  a  lesson  that  should 
come  near  to  all  of  us  individually.  They  tell  us  how  well 
natural  law  is  observed,  as  compared  with  moral.  Obeying  with 
unchanging  fidelity  the  law  of  their  creation,  they  have  meekly 
borne  the  cold  and  storms  of  thousands  of  winters,  yet  have 
thankfully  expanded  their  bosoms  to  the  returning  sun  of  every 
summer,  and  have  not  once  forgot  to  open  their  tiny  buds,  and 
bring  forth  flowers  and  fruit,  doing  thus  their  little  part  to  the 

1  This  paper  was  originally  written  at  the  time  when  the  American  Civil 
War  was  raging. 


ALPINE  AND   ARCTIC   PLANTS  455 

glory  of  their  Maker  and  ours.  How  would  the  moral  wastes 
of  earth  rejoice  and  be  glad,  did  the  sunshine  of  God's  daily 
favours  evoke  a  similar  response  from  every  human  heart ! 

REFERENCES  : — Paper  on  Destruction  and  Renewal  of  Forests  in  North 
America,  Edinburgh  Philosophical  Journal,  1847-8.  Alpine  and 
Arctic  Plants,  Canadian  Naturalist,  1862.  "The  Geological  History 
of  Plants,"  International  Scientific  Series,  2nd  edition,  1891.  "The 
Pleistocene  Flora  of  Canada,"  Dawson  and  Penhallow,  Bulletin, 
American  Geological  Society,  1890.  Papers  on  Pleistocene  Climate 
of  Canada,  Canadian  Naturalist,  1857  to  1890. 


EARLY  MAN. 


DEDICATED   TO   THE    MEMORY    OF   THE    LATE 
SIR    DANIEL   WILSON,    LL.D.,    F.R.S.E., 

A  DEAR  AND  VALUED  FRIEND, 

AND  ONE  OF  THE  MOST  EMINENT  AND  JUDICIOUS  STUDENTS  OP 
PRE-HISTORIC  MAN  BOTH  IN  EUROPE  AND  AMERICA. 


SUMMARY  OF  THE  STORY  OF  EARLY  MAN — CLASSIFICATION 
OF  TERTIARY  TIME — PROBABILITIES  AS  TO  THE  INTRO- 
DUCTION OF  MAN— THE  ANTHROPIC  AGE  AS  DISTIN- 
GUISHED FROM  THE  PLEISTOCENE — ITS  DIVISION  INTO 
PALANTHROPIC  AND  NEANTHROPIC — SKETCHES  OF  PALAN- 
THROPIC  MAN  AND  HIS  IMMEDIATE  SUCCESSORS 


FOUR  PRE-HISTORIC  SKULLS,     (p.  472.) 

Outer  outline,  Cromagnon  ;  second,  Engis ;  third,    Cannstadt ;  fourth, 
Canadian  Hochelagan  on  smaller  scale. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
EARLY  MAN. 

HE  science  of  the  earth  has  its  culmination  and  terminus 
_L  in  man  ;  and  at  this,  the  most  advanced  of  our  salient 
points,  as  we  look  back  on  the  long  process  of  the  development 
of  the  earth,  we  may  well  ask,  Was  the  end  worthy  of  the 
means?  We  may  well  have  doubts  as  to  an  affirmative 
answer  if  we  do  not  consider  that  the  means  were  perfect, 
each  in  its  own  time,  and  that  man,  the  final  link  in  the  chain 
of  life,  is  that  which  alone  takes  hold  of  the  unseen  and 
eternal.  He  alone  can  comprehend  the  great  plan,  and  appre- 
ciate its  reason  and  design.  Without  his  agency  in  this  respect 
nature  would  have  been  a  riddle  without  any  solution — a 
column  without  a  capital,  a  tree  without  fruit.  Besides  this, 
even  science  may  be  able  to  perceive  that  man  may  be  not 
merely  the  legatee  of  all  the  ages  that  lie  behind,  but  the  heir 
of  the  eternity  that  lies  before,  the  only  earthly  being  that 
has  implanted  in  him  the  germ  and  instinct  of  immortality. 

Whatever  view  we  may  take  of  these  questions,  it  is  of  inter- 
est to  us  to  know,  if  possible,  how  and  when  this  chief  corner 
stone  was  placed  upon  the  edifice  of  nature,  and  what  are  the 
precise  relations  of  man  to  the  later  geological  ages,  as  well  as 
to  the  present  order  of  nature,  of  which  he  is  at  once  a  part, 
and  its  ruler  and  head.  Let  us  put  this  first  in  the  form  of  a 
narrative  based  on  geological  facts  only,  and  then  consider 
some  of  its  details  and  relations  to  history. 

The  Glacial  age  had  passed  away.  The  lower  land,  in  great 
part  a  bare  expance  of  mud,  sand,  and  gravel,  had  risen  from 


460  EARLY   MAN 


the  icy  ocean  in  which  it  had  been  submerged,  and  most  of  the 
mountain  tops  had  lost  their  covering  of  perennial  snow  and 
ice.  The  climate  was  ameliorated,  and  the  sun  again  shone 
warmly  on  the  desolate  earth.  Gradually  the  new  land  became 
overspread  with  a  rich  vegetation,  and  was  occupied  by  many 
large  animals.  There  were  species  of  elephant,  rhinoceros, 
hippopotamus,  horse,  bison,  ox  and  deer,  multiplying  till  the 
plains  and  river  valleys  were  filled  with  their  herds,  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  they  were  followed  by  formidable  carnivorous 
beasts  fitted  to  prey  on  them.  At  this  time,  somewhere  in  the 
warm  temperate  zone,  in  an  oasis  or  island  of  fertility,  appeared 
a  new  thing  on  the  earth,  a  man  and  woman  walking  erect  in 
the  forest  glades,  bathing  in  the  waters,  gathering  and  tasting 
every  edible  fruit,  watching  with  curious  and  inquiring  eyes 
the  various  animals  around  them,  and  giving  them  names 
which  might  eventually  serve  not  merely  to  designate  their 
kinds,  but  to  express  actions  and  emotions  as  well.  When, 
where,  and  how  did  this  new  departure,  fraught  with  so  many 
possibilities,  occur — introducing  as  it  did  the  dexterous  fingers 
and  inventive  mind  of  Man  upon  the  scene?  The  last  of 
these  questions  science  is  still  unable  to  answer,  and  though 
we  may  frame  many  hypotheses,  they  all  remain  destitute  of 
certain  proof  in  so  far  as  natural  science  is  concerned.  We 
can  here  only  fall  back  on  the  old  traditional  and  historical 
monuments  of  our  race,  and  believe  that  man,  the  child  of 
God,  and  with  God-like  intellect,  will,  and  consciousness,  was 
placed  by  his  Maker  in  an  Edenic  region,  and  commissioned  to 
multiply  and  replenish  the  earth.  The  when  and  where  of  his 
introduction,  and  his  early  history  when  introduced,  are  more 
open  to  scientific  investigation.  , 

That  man  was  originally  frugivorous,  his  whole  structure 
testifies.  That  he  originated  in  some  favourable  climate  and 
fertile  land  is  equally  certain,  and  that  his  surroundings  must 
have  been  of  such  a  nature  as  to  give  him  immunity  from  the 


EARLY   MAN  461 


attacks  of  formidable  beasts  of  prey,  also  goes  without  saying. 
These  are  all  necessary  conditions  of  the  successful  introduc- 
tion of  such  a  creature  as  man,  and  theories  which  suppose 
him  to  have  originated  in  a  cold  climate,  to  struggle  at  once 
with  the  difficulties  and  dangers  of  such  a  position,  are,  from  a 
scientific  point  of  view,  incredible. 

But  man  was  introduced  into  a  wide  and  varied  world,  more 
wide  and  varied  than  that  possessed  by  his  modern  descend- 
ants. The  earliest  men  that  we  certainly  know  inhabited  out 
continents  in  the  second  Continental  age  of  the  Kainozoic 
Period,  when,  as  we  know  from  ample  geological  evidence,  the 
land  of  the  northern  hemisphere  was  much  more  extensive 
than  at  present,  with  a  mild  climate,  and  a  rich  flora  and  fauna. 
If  he  was  ambitious  to  leave  the  oasis  of  his  origin  the  way 
was  open  to  him,  but  at  the  expense  of  becoming  a  toiler,  an 
inventor,  and  a  feeder  on  animal  food,  more  especially  when  he 
should  penetrate  into  the  colder  climates.  The  details  of  all 
this,  as  they  actually  occurred,  are  not  within  the  range  of  scien- 
tific investigation,  for  these  early  men  must  have  left  few,  if  any, 
monuments  ;  but  we  can  imagine  some  of  them.  Man's  hands 
were  capable  of  other  uses  than  the  mere  gathering  of  fruit. 
His  mind  was  not  an  instinctive  machine,  like  that  of  lower 
animals,  but  an  imaginative  and  inventive  intellect,  capable  of 
adapting  objects  to  new  uses  peculiar  to  himself.  A  fallen 
branch  would  enable  him  to  obtain  the  fruits  that  hung  higher 
than  his  hands  could  reach,  a  pebble  would  enable  him  to 
break  a  nut  too  hard  for  his  teeth.  He  could  easily  weave  a 
few  twigs  into  a  rough  basket  to  carry  the  fruit  he  had  gathered 
to  the  cave  or  shelter,  or  spreading  tree,  or  rough  hut  that 
served  him  for  a  home ;  and  when  he  had  found  courage  to 
snatch  a  brand  from  some  tree,  ignited  by  lightning,  or  by  the 
friction  of  dry  branches,  and  to  kindle  a  fire  for  himself,  he  had 
fairly  entered  on  that  path  of  invention  and  discovery  which 
has  enabled  him  to  achieve  so  many  conquests  over  nature. 


462  EARLY   MAN 


Our  imagination  may  carry  us  yet  a  little  farther  with  reference 
to  his  fortunes.  If  he  needed  any  weapon  to  repel  aggressive 
enemies,  a  stick  or  club  would  serve  his  purpose,  or  perhaps  a 
stone  thrown  from  his  hand.  Soon,  however,  he  might  learn 
from  the  pain  caused  by  the  sharp  flints  that  lay  in  his  path  the 
cutting  power  of  an  edge,  and,  armed  with  a  flint  chip  held 
in  the  hand,  or  fitted  into  a  piece  of  wood,  he  would  become 
an  artificer  of  many  things  useful  and  pleasing.  As  he  wan- 
dered into  more  severe  climates,  where  vegetable  food  could 
not  be  obtained  throughout  the  year,  and  as  he  observed  the 
habits  of  beasts  and  birds  of  prey,  he  would  learn  to  be 
a  hunter  and  a  fisherman,  and  to  cook  animal  food  ;  and  with 
this  would  come  new  habits,  wants  and  materials,  as  well  as  a 
more  active  and  energetic  mode  of  life.  He  would  also  have 
to  make  new  weapons  and  implements,  axes,  darts,  harpoons, 
and  scrapers  for  skins,  and  bodkins  or  needles  to  make  skin 
garments.  He  would  use  chipped  flint  where  this  could  be 
procured,  and  failing  this,  splintered  and  rubbed  slate,  and  for 
some  uses,  bone  and  antler.  Much  ingenuity  would  be  used 
in  shaping  these  materials,  and  in  the  working  of  bone,  antler 
and  wood,  ornament  would  begin  to  be  studied.  In  the  mean- 
time the  hunter,  though  his  weapons  improved,  would  become 
a  ruder  and  more  migratory  man,  and  in  anger,  or  in  the  desire 
to  gain  some  coveted  object,  might  begin  to  use  his  weapons 
against  his  brother  man.  In  some  more  favoured  localities, 
however,  he  might  attain  to  a  more  settled  life  ;  and  he,  or  more 
likely  the  woman  his  helpmeet,  might  contrive  to  tame  some 
species  of  animals,  and  to  begin  some  culture  of  the  soil. 

It  was  probably  in  this  early  time  that  metals  first  attracted 
the  attention  of  men.  The  ages  of  stone,  bronze,  and 
iron  believed  in  by  some  archaeologists,  are  more  or  less 
mythical  to  the  geologist,  who  knows  that  these  things  depend 
more  on  locality  and  on  natural  products  than  on  stages  of 
culture.  The  analogy  of  America  teaches  us  that  the  use  of 


EARLY   MAN  463 


different  metals  may  be  contemporaneous,  provided  that  they 
can  be  obtained  in  a  native  state.  At  the  time  of  the  dis- 
covery of  America  the  Esquimaux  were  using  native  iron, 
which,  though  rare  in  most  parts  of  the  world,  is  not  uncom- 
mon in  some  rocks  of  Greenland.  The  people  of  the  region 
of  the  great  lakes,  and  of  the  valleys  of  the  Mississippi  and 
Ohio,  were  using  native  copper  from  Lake  Superior  for  similar 
purposes.  Gold  was  apparently  the  only  metal  among  the 
natives  of  Central  America.  The  people  of  Peru  had  invented 
bronze,  or  had  brought  the  knowledge  of  it  with  them  from 
beyond  the  sea.  Thus  the  Peruvians  were  in  the  bronze  age, 
the  Mexicans  and  Mound  builders  in  the  copper  age,  and  the 
Esquimaux  in  the  iron  age,  while  at  the  same  time  the 
greater  part  of  the  aboriginal  tribes  were  at  one  and  the  same 
time  in  the  ages  of  chipped  and  polished  stone  and  in  these 
ages  what  have  been  called  palaeolithic  and  neolothic  weapons 
were  contemporaneous,  the  former  being  most  usually  unfinished 
examples  of  the  latter,  or  extemporized  tools  roughly  made  in 
emergencies.1  How  long  this  had  lasted,  or  how  long  it  would 
have  continued,  had  not  Europeans  introduced  from  abroad  an 
iron  age,  we  do  not  know.  It  was  probably  the  same  in  other 
parts  of  the  world,  in  pre-historic  times.  In  any  case,  the  dis- 
covery of  native  metals  must  have  occurred  very  early.  Men 
searching  in  the  beds  of  streams  for  suitable  pebbles  to  form 
hammers  and  other  implements,  would  find  nuggets  of  gold 
and  copper,  and  the  properties  of  these,  so  different  from  those 
of  other  pebbles,  would  at  once  attract  attention,  and  lead  to 
useful  applications.  Native  iron  is  of  rarer  occurrence,  but  in 
certain  localities  would  also  be  found.3  It  must  have  been 

1  "  Fossil  Men,"  by  the  Author.     W.  H.  Holmes,  "  American  Anthro- 
pologist," 1890. 

2  The  rarity  of  native  iron,  whether  meteoric  or  telluric,  and  its  rapid 
decay  by  rusting,  sufficiently  account  for  its  absence  in  deposits  where  im- 
plements of  stone  and  bone  have  been  preserved. 

23 


464  EARLY   MAN 


experiments  on  these  ores,  which  resemble  the  native  metals  in 
colour,  lustre  and  weight,  that  led  to  the  first  attempts  at  smelt- 
ing metals,  and  these  must  have  occurred  at  a  very  early 
period.  Yet  for  ages  the  metals  must  have  been  extremely 
scarce,  and  we  know  that  in  comparatively  modern  times  civil- 
ized nations  like  the  Egyptians  were  using  flint  flakes  after  they 
had  domesticated  many  animals,  had  become  skilful  agricultu- 
rists and  artisans,  and  had  executed  great  architectural  works. 

Piobably  all  these  ends  had  been  to  some  extent,  and  in 
some  localities,  attained  in  the  earliest  human  period,  when 
man  was  contemporary  with  many  large  animals  now  extinct. 
But  a  serious  change  was  to  occur  in  human  prospects. 
There  is  the  best  geological  evidence  that  in  the  northern 
hemisphere  the  mild  climate  of  the  earlier  Post-glacial  period 
relapsed  into  comparative  coldness,  though  not  so  extreme  as 
that  of  the  preceding  Glacial  age.  Hill  tops,  long  denuded  of 
the  snow  and  ice  of  the  Glacial  period,  were  again  covered,  and 
cold  winters  sealed  up  the  lakes  and  rivers,  and  covered  the 
ground  with  wintry  snows  of  long  continuance,  and  with  this 
came  a  change  in  animal  life  and  in  human  habits.  The  old 
southern  elephant  (E.  antiquus),  the  southern  rhinoceros  (E. 
leptorhinus),  and  the  river  hippopotamus  (H.  major),  which 
had  been  contemporaries,  in  Europe  at  least,  of  primitive  man, 
retired  from  the  advancing  cold,  and  ultimately  perished, 
while  their  places  were  taken  by  the  hairy  mammoth  (E. 
primigenius),  the  woolly  rhinoceros  (R.  tichorhinus\  the  rein- 
deer, and  even  the  musk  ox.  Now  began  a  fierce  struggle  for 
existence  in  the  more  northern  districts  inhabited  by  man — a 
struggle  in  which  only  the  hardier  and  ruder  races  could  sur- 
vive, except,  perhaps,  in  some  of  the  more  genial  portions  of 
the  warm  temperate  zone.  Men  had  to  become  almost  wholly 
carnivorous,  and  had  to  contend  with  powerful  and  fierce 
animals.  Tribe  contended  with  tribe  for  the  possession  of  the 
most  productive  and  sheltered  habitats.  Thus  the  struggle 


EARLY    MAN  465 


with  nature  became  aggravated  by  that  between  man  and  man. 
Violence  disturbed  the  progress  of  civilization,  and  favoured 
the  increase  and  power  of  the  rudest  tribes,  while  the  more  deli- 
cately organized  and  finer  types  of  humanity,  if  they  continued 
to  exist  in  some  favoured  spots,  were  in  constant  danger  of 
being  exterminated  by  their  fiercer  and  stronger  contemporaries. 

In  mercy  to  humanity,  this  state  of  things  wa,s  terminated 
by  a  great  physical  revolution,  the  last  great  subsidence  of  the 
continents — that  Post-glacial  flood,  which  must  have  swept 
away  the  greater  part  of  men,  and  many  species  of  great  beasts, 
and  left  only  a  few  survivors  to  re-people  the  world,  just  as  the 
mammoth  and  other  gigantic  animals  had  to  give  place  to 
smaller  and  feebler  creatures.  In  these  vicissitudes  it  seemed 
determined,  with  reference  to  man,  that  the  more  gigantic  and 
formidable  races  should  perish,  and  that  one  of  the  finer  types 
should  survive  to  re-people  the  world. 

The  age  of  which  we  have  been  writing  the  history,  is  that 
which  has  been  fitly  named  the  Anthropic,  in  that  earlier  part 
of  it  preceding  the  great  diluvial  catastrophe,  which  has  fixed 
itself  in  all  the  earlier  traditions  of  men,  and  which  separates 
what  may  be  called  the  Palanthropic  or  Antediluvian  age  from 
the  Neanthropic  or  Postdiluvian.  Independently  altogether  of 
human  history,  these  are  two  geological  ages  distinguished  by 
different  physical  conditions  and  different  species  of  animals  ; 
and  the  time  has  undoubtedly  come  when  all  the  speculations 
of  archagologists  respecting  early  man  must  be  regulated  by 
these  great  geological  facts,  which  are  stamped  upon  those  later 
deposits  of  the  crust  of  the  earth,  which  have  been  laid  down 
since  man  was  its  inhabitant.  If  they  have  only  recently  as- 
sumed their  proper  place  in  the  geological  chronology,  this  is 
due  to  the  great  difficulty  in  the  case  of  the  more  recent 
deposits  in  establishing  their  actual  succession  and  relations  to 
each  other.  These  difficulties  have,  however,  been  overcome, 
and  new  facts  are  constantly  being  obtained  to  render  our 


466  EARLY   MAN 


knowledge  more  definite.  Lest,  however,  the  preceding  sketch 
of  the  Palanthropic  age — that  in  which  gigantic  men  were  con- 
temporaries of  a  gigantic  fauna  now  extinct — should  be  re- 
garded as  altogether  fanciful,  we  may  proceed  to  consider  the 
geological  facts  and  classification  as  actually  ascertained. 

The  Tertiary  or  Kainozoic  period,  the  last  of  the  four  great 
"  times "  intp  which  the  earth's  geological  history  is  usually 
divided,  and  that  to  which  man  and  the  mammalia  belong, 
was  ingeniously  subdivided  by  Lyell,  on  the  ground  of  per- 
centages of  marine  shells  and  other  invertebrates  of  the  sea. 
According  to  this  method,  which  with  some  modification  in 
details  is  still  accepted,  the  Eocene,  or  dawn  of  the  recent, 
includes  those  formations  in  which  the  percentage  of  modern 
species  of  marine  animals  does  not  exceed  3^,  all  the  other 
species  found  being  extinct.  The  Miocene  (less  recent)  in- 
cludes formations  in  which  the  percentage  of  living  species 
does  not  exceed  35,  and  the  Pliocene  (more  recent)  contains 
formations  having  more  than  35  per  cent,  of  recent  species. 
To  these  three  may  be  added  the  Pleistocene,  in  which  the 
great  majority  of  the  species  are  recent,  and  the  Modern  or 
Anthropic,  in  which  we  are  still  living.  Dawkins  and  Gaudry 
give  us  a  division  substantially  the  same  with  Lyell's,  except 
that  they  prefer  to  take  the  evidence  of  the  higher  animals 
instead  of  the  marine  shells..  The  Eocene  thus  includes  those 
formations  in  which  there  are  remains  of  mammals  or  ordinary 
land  quadrupeds,  but  none  of  these  belong  to  recent  species 
or  genera,  though  they  may  be  included  in  the  same  families 
and  orders  with  the  recent  mammals.  This  is  a  most  im- 
portant fact,  as  we  shall  see,  and  the  only  exception  to  it  is 
that  Gaudry  and  others  hold  that  a  few  living  genera,  as  those 
of  the  dog,  civet,  and  marten,  are  actually  found  in  the  later 
Eocene.  The  Miocene,  on  the  same  mammalian  evidence, 
will  include  formations  in  which  there  are  living  genera  of 
mammals,  but  no  species  which  survive  to  the  present  time. 


EARLY   MAN  467 


The  Pliocene  and  Pleistocene  show  living  species,  though  in 
the  former  these  are  very  few  and  exceptional,  while  in  the 
latter  they  become  the  majority. 

With  regard  to  the  geological  antiquity  of  man,  no  geologist 
expects  to  find  any  human  remains  in  beds  older  than  the 
Tertiary,  because  in  the  older  periods  the  conditions  of  the 
world  do  not  seem  to  have  been  suitable  to  man,  and  because 
in  these  periods  no  animals  nearly  akin  to  man  are  known. 
On  entering  into  the  Eocene  Tertiary  we  fail  in  like  manner  to 
find  any  human  remains  ;  and  we  do  not  expect  to  find  any, 
because  no  living  species  and  scarcely  any  living  genera  of 
mammals  are  known  in  the  Eocene ;  nor  do  we  find  in  it 
remains  of  any  of  the  animals,  as  the  anthropoid  apes,  for  in- 
stance, most  nearly  allied  to  man.  In  the  Miocene  the  case  is 
somewhat  different.  Here  we  have  living  genera  at  least,  and 
we  have  large  species  of  apes ;  but  no  remains  of  man  have 
been  discovered,  if  we  except  some  splinters  of  flint  found  in 
beds  of  this  age  at  Thenay,  in  France,  and  some  notched 
bones.  Supposing  these  objects  to  have  been  chipped  or 
notched  by  animals,  which  is  by  no  means  certain  in  the  case 
of  the  flints,  the  question  remains,  Was  this  done  by  man? 
Gaudry  and  Dawkins  prefer  to  suppose  that  the  artificer  was 
one  of  the  anthropoid  apes  of  the  period.  It  is  true  that  no 
apes  are  known  to  do  such  work  now ;  but  then  other  animals, 
as  beavers  and  birds,  are  artificers,  and  some  extinct  animals 
were  of  higher  powers  than  their  modern  representatives.  But 
if  there  were  Miocene  apes  which  chipped  flints  and  cut  bones, 
this  would,  either  on  the  hypothesis  of  evolution  or  that  of 
creation  by  law,  render  the  occurrence  of  man  still  less  likely 
than  if  there  were  no  such  apes.  The  scratched  and  notched 
bones,  on  the  other  hand,  indicate  merely  the  gnawing  of  sharks 
or  other  carnivorous  animals.  For  these  reasons  neither  Daw- 
kins  nor  Gaudry,  nor  indeed  any  geologists  of  authority  in  the 
Tertiary  fauna,  believe  in  Miocene  man. 


468  EARLY   MAN 


In  the  Pliocene,  though  the  facies  of  the  mammalian  fauna 
of  Europe  becomes  more  modern,  and  a  few  modern  species 
occur,  the  climate  becomes  colder,  and  in  consequence  the 
apes  disappear,  so  that  the  chances  of  finding  fossil  men  are 
lessened  rather  than  increased  in  so  far  as  the  temperate 
regions  are  concerned.  In  Italy,  however,  Capellini  has  de- 
scribed a  skull,  an  implement,  and  a  notched  bone  supposed 
to  have  come  from  Pliocene  beds.  To  this  it  may  be  objected 
that  the  skull — which  I  examined  in  1883  in  the  museum  at 
Florence — and  the  implement  are  of  recent  type,  and  probably 
mixed  with  the  Pliocene  stuff  by  some  slip  of  the  ground.  As 
the  writer  has  elsewhere  pointed  out,1  similar  and  apparently 
fatal  objections  apply  to  the  skull  and  implements  alleged  to 
have  been  found  in  Pliocene  gravels  in  California.  Dawkins 
further  informs  us  that  in  the  Italian  Pliocene  beds  supposed 
to  hold  remains  of  man,  of  twenty-one  mammalia  whose  bones 
occur,  all  are  extinct  species,  except  possibly  one,  a  hippo- 
potamus. This,  of  course,  renders  very  unlikely  in  a  geological 
point  of  view  the  occurrence  of  human  remains  in  these  beds. 

In  the  Pleistocene  deposits  of  Europe — and  this  applies  also 
to  America — we  for  the  first  time  find  a  predominance  of 
recent  species  of  land  animals.  Here,  therefore,  we  may  look 
with  some  hope  for  remains  of  man  and  his  works,  and  here, 
in  the  later  Pleistocene,  or  the  early  Modern,  they  are  actually 
found.  When  we  speak,  however,  of  Pleistocene  man,  there 
arise  some  questions  as  to  the  classification  of  the  deposits, 
which  it  seems  to  the  writer  Dawkins  and  other  British  geolo- 
gists have  not  answered  in  accordance  with  geological  facts, 
and  a  misunderstanding  as  to  which  may  lead  to  serious  error. 
They  have  extended  the  term  Pleistocene  over  that  Post-glacial 
period  in  which  we  find  remains  of  man,  and  thus  have  split 
the  "  Anthropic  "  period  into  two  ;  and  they  proceed  to  divide 
the  latter  part  of  it  into  the  Pre-historic  and  Historic  periods, 

1   "  Fossil  Men,"  1880. 


EARLY   MAN  469 


whereas  the  name  Pleistocene  should  not  be  extended  to  the 
Post-glacial  age.  The  close  of  the  Glacial  period,  introducing 
great  physical  and  climatal  changes,  some  new  species  of 
mammalia  and  man  himself,  should  be  regarded  as  the  end  of 
the  Pleistocene,  and  the  introduction  of  what  some  French 
geologists  have  called  the  Anthropic  period,  which  I  have  else- 
where divided  into  Palanthropic,  corresponding  to  the  so-called 
Palaeolithic  age,  and  Neanthropic,  corresponding  to  the  later 
stone  and  metal  ages.1  These  may  be  termed  respectively  the 
earlier  and  later  stages  of  the  Modern  period  as  distinguished 
from  the  Pleistocene  Tertiary. 

In  point  of  logical  arrangement,  and  especially  of  geological 
classification,  the  division  into  historic  and  pre-historic  periods 
is  decidedly  objectionable.  Even  in  Europe  the  historic  age 
of  the  south  is  altogether  a  different  thing  from  that  of  the 
north,  and  to  speak  of  the  pre-historic  period  in  Greece  and  in 
Britain  or  Norway  as  indicating  the  same  portion  of  time  is 
altogether  illusory.  Hence  a  large  portion  of  the  discussion  of 
this  subject  has  to  be  properly  called  "  the  overlap  of  history." 
Further,  the  mere  accident  of  the  presence  or  absence  of  his- 
torical documents  cannot  constitute  a  geological  period  com- 
parable with  such  periods  as  the  Pleistocene  and  Pliocene,  and 
the  assumption  of  such  a  criterion  of  time  merely  confuses  our 
ideas.  On  the  one  hand,  while  the  whole  Tertiary  or  Kaino- 
zoic,  up  to  the  present  day,  is  one  great  geological  period, 
characterized  by  a  continuous  though  gradually  changing  fauna 
and  series  of  physical  conditions,  and  there  is  consequently 
no  good  basis  for  setting  apart,  as  some  geologists  do,  a 
Quaternary  as  distinct  from  the  Tertiary  period ;  on  the  other 
hand,  there  is  a  distinct  physical  break  between  the  Pliocene 
and  the  Modern  in  the  great  Glacial  age.  This,  in  its  Arctic 
climate  and  enormous  submergence  of  the  land,  though  it 
did  not  exterminate  the  fauna  of  the  northern  hemisphere, 
1  "  Modern  Science  in  Bible  Lands." 


47O  EARLY   MAN 


greatly  reduced  it,  and  at  the  close  of  this  age  some  new  forms 
came  in.  For  this  reason  the  division  between  the  Pleistocene 
and  Anthropic  ages  should  be  made  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Post-glacial  age.  The  natural  division  would  thus  be  : — 

I.  PLEISTOCENE,  including — 

(a)  Early  Pleistocene,  or    first   continental  period.      Land 
very  extensive,  moderate  climate.      This  passes  into  the  pre- 
ceding Pliocene. 

(b)  Later  Pleistocene,  or  glacial,  including  Dawkins'  "  Mid 
Pleistocene."     In  this  there  was  a  great  prevalence  of  cold  and 
glacial  conditions,  and  a  great  submergence  of  the  northern 
land. 

II.  ANTHROPIC,  or  period  of  man  and  modern  mammals, 
including — 

(a)  Palanthropic,  Post-glacial,  or  second  continental  period, 
in  which  the  land  was  again  very  extensive,  and  Paleocosmic 
man  was  contemporary  with   some   great   mammals,   as   the 
mammoth,  now  extinct,  and  the  area  of  land  in  the  northern 
hemisphere  was  greater  than  at  present.    This  includes  a  later 
cold  period,  not  equal  in  intensity  to  that  of  the  Glacial  period 
proper,  and  was  terminated  by  a  great  and  very  general  subsi- 
dence, accompanied  by  the  disappearance  of  Paleocosmic  man 
and  some  large  mammalia,  and  which  may  be  identical  with 
the  historical  deluge. 

(b)  Neanthropic  or  Recent,  when  the  continents  attained  their 
present  levels,  existing  races  of  men  colonized  Europe,  and 
living   species  of  mammals.      This   includes   both   the   Pre- 
historic and  Historic  periods. 

On  geological  grounds  the  above  should  clearly  be  our 
arrangement,  though  of  course  there  need  be  no  objection  to 
such  other  subdivisions  as  historians  and  antiquarians  may  find 
desirable  for  their  purposes.  On  this  classification  the  earliest 
certain  indications  of  the  presence  of  man  in  Europe,  Asia,  or 
America,  so  far  as  yet  known,  belong  to  the  Modern  or  Anthropic 


EARLY   MAN  471 


period  alone.  That  man  may  have  existed  previously  no  one 
need  deny,  but  no  one  can  at  present  positively  affirm  on  any 
ground  of  actual  fact.  It  may  be  necessary  here  to  explain 
the  contentions  often  made  that  in  Britain  and  Western  Europe 
man  belongs  to  an  interglacial  period.  When  with  Dr.  James 
Geikie,  the  great  Scottish  glacialist,  we  hold  that  there  were 
several  interglacial  periods,  the  Glacial  age  may  be  extended 
by  including  the  warm  period  of  the  Palanthropic,  and  the  cold 
at  its  termination,  as  one  of  the  interglacial  and  Glacial  periods. 
In  this  way,  as  a  matter  of  classification,  man  appears  in  the 
latest  Interglacial  periods.  This,  however,  as  above  stated,  I 
regard  as  an  error  in  arrangement ;  but  it  makes  no  practical 
difference  as  to  the  facts. 

Inasmuch,  however,  as  the  human  remains  of  the  Post-glacial 
epoch  are  those  of  fully  developed  men  of  high  type,  it  may  be 
said,  and  has  often  been  said,  that  man  in  some  lower  stage  of 
development  must  have  existed  at  a  far  earlier  period.  That 
is,  he  must,  if  certain  theories  as  to  his  evolution  from  lower 
animals  are  to  be  sustained.  This,  however,  is  not  a  mode  of 
reasoning  in  accordance  with  the  methods  of  science.  When 
facts  fail  to  sustain  certain  theories  we  are  usually  in  the  habit 
of  saying  "  so  much  the  worse  for  the  theories,"  not  "  so  much 
the  worse  for  the  facts,"  or  at  least  we  claim  the  right  to  hold 
our  judgment  in  suspense  till  some  confirmatory  facts  are  forth- 
coming. 

We  have  now  to  inquire  as  to  the  actual  nature  of  the  indi- 
cations of  man  in  Europe  and  Western  Asia  at  the  close  of  the 
Glacial  or  Pleistocene  period.  These  are  principally  such  of 
his  tools  or  weapons  as  could  escape  decay  when  embedded  in 
river  gravels,  or  in  the  earth  and  stalagmite  of  caverns  or  rock 
shelters,  or  buried  with  his  bones  in* caves  of  sepulture.  Very 
valuable  accessory  fossils  are  the  broken  bones  of  the  animals 
he  has  used  as  food.  Most  valuable,  and  rarest  of  all,  are  well- 
preserved  human  skulls  and  skeletons.  Some  doubt  may  attach 
23* 


472  EARLY   MAN 


to  mere  flint  flakes,  in  the  absence  of  other  remains  ;  but  the 
other  indications  above  referred  to  are  indisputable,~and  when 
proper  precautions  are  taken  to  notice  the  succession  of  beds, 
and  to  eliminate  the  effects  of  any  later  disturbance  of  the  de- 
posits, human  fossils  become  as  instructive  and  indisputable  as 
any  others. 

When  the  whole  of  the  facts  thus  available  are  put  together, 
we  find  that  the  earliest  men  of  whom  we  have  osseous  remains, 
and  who,  undoubtedly,  inhabited  Europe  and  Western  Asia  in 
the  second  continental  period,  before  the  establishment  of  the 
present  geography,  and  before  the  disappearance  of  the  mam- 
moth and  its  companions,  were  of  two  races  or  subraces,  agree- 
ing in  certain  respects,  differing  in  others.  Both  have  long  or 
dolichocephalic  heads,  and  seem  to  have  been  men  of  great 
strength  and  muscular  energy,  with  somewhat  coarse  counte- 
nances of  Mongolian  type,  and  they  seem  to  have  been  of 
roving  habits,  living  as  hunters  and  fishermen  in  a  semi-barbar- 
ous condition,  but  showing  some  artistic  skill  and  taste  in  their 
carvings  on  bone  and  other  ornaments. 

The  earliest  of  the  two  races  locally,  though,  on  the  whole, 
they  were  contemporaneous,  is  that  known  as  the  Cannstadt  or 
Neanderthal  people,  who  are  characterized  by  a  low  forehead, 
with  beetling  brows,  massive  limb  bones  and  moderate  stature. 
So  far  as  known  they  were  the  ruder  and  less  artistic  of  the  two 
races.  The  other,  the  Engis  or  Cromagnon  race,  was  of  higher 
type,  with  well-formed  and  capacious  skull,  and  a  countenance 
which,  if  somewhat  broad,  with  high  cheek  bones,  eyes  length- 
ened laterally,  and  heavy  lower  jaw,  must  have  been  of  some- 
what grand  and  impressive  features.  These  men  are  of  great 
stature,  some  examples  being  seven  feet  in  height,  and  with 
massive  bones,  having  strong  muscular  impressions.  The  Engis 
skull  found  in  a  cave  in  Belgium,  with  bones  of  the  mammoth, 
the  skeletons  of  the  Cromagnon  cave  in  the  valley  of  the  Vezere, 
in  France,  and  those  of  the  caves  of  Mentone,  in  Italy,  repre- 


EARLY   MAN  473 


sent  this  race.  Doubts,  it  is  true,  have  been  entertained  as  to 
whether  the  last  mentioned  race  is  really  palanthropic  ;  but  the 
latest  facts  as  to  their  mode  of  occurrence  and  associations 
seem  to  render  this  certain.  These  men  were  certainly  contem- 
poraneous with  the  mammoth,  and  they  disappeared  in  the 
cataclysm  which  closed  the  earlier  anthropic  period.  Attempts 
have,  however,  been  made  to  separate  them  into  groups  ac- 
cording to  age,  within  this  period ; l  and  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  both  in  France  and  England  the  lower  and  older  strata 
of  gravels  and  caves  yield  ruder  and  less  perfect  implements 
than  the  higher.  Independently,  however,  of  the  fact  that  the 
very  earliest  men  may  have  been  peaceful  gatherers  of  fruit,  and 
not  hunters  or  warriors,  having  need  of  lethal  weapons,  such 
facts  may  rather  testify  to  local  improvement  in  the  condition 
of  certain  tribes  than  to  any  change  of  race.  Such  local  im- 
provement would  be  very  likely  to  occur  wherever  a  new 
locality  was  taken  possession  of  by  a  small  and  wandering 
tribe,  which,  in  process  of  time,  might  increase  in  numbers 
and  in  wealth,  as  well  as  in  means  of  intercourse  with  other 
tribes.  A  similar  succession  would  occur  when  caves,  used 
at  first  as  temporary  places  of  rendezvous  by  savage  tribes, 
became  afterwards  places  of  residence,  or  were  acquired  by 
conquest  on  the  part  of  tribes  a  little  more  advanced,  in  the 
manner  in  which  such  changes  are  constantly  taking  place  in 
rude  communities. 

Yet  on  facts  of  this  nature  have  been  built  extensive  generali- 
zations as  to  a  race  of  river-drift  men,  in  a  low  and  savage  con- 
dition, replaced,  after  the  lapse  of  ages,  by  a  people  somewhat 
more  advanced  in  the  arts,  and  specially  addicted  to  a  cavern 
life ;  and  this  conclusion  is  extended  to  Europe  and  Asia,  so 
that  in  every  case  where  rude  flint  implements  exist  in  river 
gravels,  evidence  is  supposed  to  be  found  of  the  earlier  of  these 
races.  But  no  physical  break  separates  the  two  periods ;  the 
1  Mortillet,  "  Pre-historic  Men." 


474  EARLY   MAN 


fauna  remained  the  same ;  the  skulls,  so  far  as  known,  present 
little  difference ;  and  even  in  works  of  art  the  distinction  is  in- 
validated by  grave  exceptions,  which  are  intensified  by  the  fact, 
which  the  writer  has  elsewhere  illustrated,  that  in  the  case  of 
the  same  people  their  residences  in  caves,  etc.,  and  their  places 
of  burial  are  likely  to  contain  very  different  objects  from  those 
which  they  leave  in  river  gravels. 

It  is  admitted  that  the  whole  of  these  Palaeocosmic  men  are 
racially  distinct  from  modern  men,  though  most  nearly  allied 
in  physical  characters  to  some  of  the  Mongoloid  races  of  the 
northern  regions.  Some  of  their  characters  also  appear  in  the 
native  races  of  America,  and  occasional  cases  occur,  when  even 
the  characters  of  the  Cannstadt  skull  reappear  in  modern  times. 
The  skull  of  the  great  Scottish  king  Robert  Bruce  was  of  this 
type;  and  his  indomitable  energy  and  governing  power  may 
have  been  connected  with  this  fact.  Attempts  have  even  been 
made l  to  show  an  intimate  connection  between  the  cave  men 
and  the  Esquimaux  of  Greenland  and  Arctic  America,  but,  as 
Wilson  has  well  shown,2  this  is  not  borne  out  by  their  cranial 
characters,  and  the  resemblances,  such  as  they  are,  in  arts  and 
implements,  are  common  to  the  Esquimaux  and  many  other 
American  tribes.  In  many  respects,  however,  the  arts  and 
mode  of  life,  as  well  as  some  of  the  physical  characters  of  the 
Palaeocosmic  men  of  Europe  were  near  akin  to  those  of  the 
ruder  native  races  of  America. 

Perhaps  one  of  the  most  curious  examples  of  this  is  the  cave 
at  Sorde,  in  the  western  Pyrenees.  On  the  floor  of  this  cave 
lay  a  human  skeleton,  covered  with  fallen  blocks  of  stone. 
With  it  were  found  forty  canine  teeth  of  the  bear,  and  three  of 
the  lion,  perforated  for  suspension,  and  several  of  these  teeth 
are  skilfully  engraved  with  figures  of  animals,  one  bearing  the 
engraved  figure  of  an  embroidered  glove.  This  necklace,  no 

1  Dawkins,  "  Early  Man  in  Britain." 

*  Address  to  Anthropological  section  of  the  American  Association,  1882. 


EARLY   MAN  475 


doubt  just  such  a  trophy  of  the  chase  as  would  now  be  worn  by 
a  red  Indian  hunter,  though  more  elaborate,  must  have  belonged 
to  the  owner  of  the  skull,  who  would  appear  to  have  perished 
by  a  fall  of  rock,  or  to  have  had  his  body  covered  after  death 
with  stones.  In  the  deposit  near  and  under  these  remains 
were  flint  flakes.  Above  the  skull  were  several  feet  of  refuse, 
stones,  and  bones  of  the  horse,  reindeer,  etc.,  and  "  Paleolithic" 
flint  implements,  and  above  all  were  placed  the  remains  of 
thirty  skulls  and  skeletons  with  beautifully  chipped  flint  imple- 
ments, some  of  them  as  fine  as  any  of  later  age.  After  the 
burial  of  these  the  cave  seems  to  have  been  finally  closed  with 
large  stones.  The  French  explorers  of  this  cave  refer  the  lower 
and  upper  skulls  to  the  same  race,  that  of  Cromagnon ;  but 
others  consider  the  upper  remains  as  "Neolithic,"  though  there 
is  no  reason  why  a  man  who  possessed  a  necklace  of  beautifully 
carved  teeth  should  not  have  belonged  to  a  tribe  which  used 
well-made  stone  implements,  or  why  the  weapons  buried  with 
the  dead  should  have  been  no  better  than  the  chips  and  flakes 
left  by  the  same  people  in  their  rubbish  heaps.  In  any  case 
the  interment — and  this  applies  also  to  the  Mentone  caves — 
recalls  the  habits  of  American  aborigines.  In  some  of  these 
cases  we  have  even  deposits  of  red  oxide  of  iron,  representing 
the  war  paint  of  the  ancient  hunter. 

Widely  different  opinions  have  been  held  by  archaeologists 
as  to  the  connection  of  the  Palanthropic  and  Neanthropic  ages. 
It  suits  the  present  evolutionist  and  exaggerated  uniformitarian- 
ism  of  our  day  to  take  for  granted  that  the  two  are  continuous, 
and  pass  into  each  other.  But  there  are  stubborn  facts  against 
this  conclusion.  Let  us  take,  for  example,  the  area  represented 
by  the  British  Islands  and  the  neighbouring  continent.  In  the 
earlier  period  Britain  was  a  part  of  the  mainland,  and  was  occu- 
pied by  the  mammoth,  the  woolly  rhinoceros,  and  other 
animals,  now  locally  or  wholly  extinct.  The  human  inhabit- 
ants were  of  a  large-bodied  and  coarse  race  not  now  found 


476  EARLY    MAN 


anywhere.  In  the  later  period  all  this  is  changed.  Britain 
has  become  an  island.  Its  gigantic  Post-glacial  fauna  has  dis- 
appeared. Its  human  inhabitants  are  now  small  in  stature  and 
delicate  in  feature,  and  represented  to  this  day  by  parts  of  the 
population  of  the  south  of  Wales  and  Ireland.  They  buried 
their  dead  in  the  peculiar  cemeteries  known  as  long  barrows, 
and  their  implements  and  weapons  are  of  a  new  type,  previously 
unknown.  All  this  shows  a  great  interval  of  physical  and 
organic  mutation.  In  connection  with  this  we  have  the  high- 
level  gravel  and  rubble,  which  Prestwich  has  shown  to  belong 
to  this  stage,  and  which  proves  a  subsidence  even  greater  than 
that  to  be  inferred  from  the  present  diminution  of  the  land 
area.  Knowing  as  we  do  that  the  close  of  the  Glacial  period 
was  not  more  than  8,000  years  ago,  and  deducting  from  this 
the  probable  duration  of  the  Palanthropic  age  on  the  one  hand, 
and  that  of  modern  history  on  the  other,  we  must  admit  that 
the  interval  left  for  the  great  physical  and  faunal  changes  above 
referred  to  is  too  small  to  permit  them  to  have  occurred  as  the 
result  of  slow  and  gradual  operations.  Considerations  of  this 
kind  have  indeed  some  of  the  best  authorities  on  the  subject, 
as  Cartailhac,  Forel,  and  de  Mortillet,  to  hold  that  there  is 
"an  immense  space,  a  great  gap,  during  which  the  fauna  was 
renewed,  and  after  which  a  new  race  of  men  suddenly  made  its 
appearance,  and  polished  stone  instead  of  chipping  it,  and  sur- 
rounded themselves  with  domestic  animals."1  There  is  thus,  in 
the  geological  history  of  man  an  interval  of  physical  and  organic 
change,  corresponding  to  that  traditional  and  historical  deluge 
which  has  left  its  memory  with  all  the  more  ancient  nations. 
Thus  our  men  of  the  Palanthropic,  Post-glacial  or  Mammoth 
age  are  the  same  we  have  been  accustomed  to  call  Antediluvians, 
and  their  immediate  successors  are  identical  with  the  Basques 

1  Quatrefages,  "The  Human  Species."  The  interval  should  not,  how- 
ever, be  placed  after  the  reindeer  period,  as  this  animal  occurs  in  both 
ages. 


EARLY   MAN  477 


and  ancient  Iberians,  a  non-Aryan  or  Turanian  people  who 
once  possessed  nearly  the  whole  of  Europe,  and  included  the 
rude  Ugrians  and  Laps  of  the  north,  the  civilized  Etruscans  of 
the  south,  and  the  Iberians  of  the  west,  with  allied  tribes  occu- 
pying the  British  Islands.  This  race,  scattered  and  overthrown 
before  the  dawn  of  authentic  history  in  Europe  by  the  Celts 
and  other  intrusive  peoples,  was  unquestionably  that  which 
succeeded  the  now  extinct  Palaeocosmic  race,  and  constituted 
the  men  of  the  so-called  "  Neolithic  period,"  which  thus  con- 
nects itself  with  the  modern  history  of  Europe,  from  which  it 
is  not  separated  by  any  physical  catastrophe  like  that  which 
divides  the  older  men  of  the  mammoth  age  and  the  widely 
spread  continents  of  the  Post-glacial  period  from  our  modern 
days.  This  identification  of  the  Neolithic  men  with  the 
Iberians,  which  the  writer  has  also  insisted  on,  Dawkins  de- 
serves credit  for  fully  elucidating,  and  he  might  have  carried  it 
farther,  to  the  identification  of  these  same  Iberians  with  the 
Berbers,  the  Guanches  of  the  Canary  Islands,  and  the  Caribbean 
and  other  tribes  of  eastern  and  central  America.  On  these 
hitherto  dark  subjects  light  is  now  rapidly  breaking,  and  we 
may  hope  that  much  of  the  present  obscurity  will  soon  be 
cleared  away. 

Supposing,  then,  that  we  may  apply  the  term  Anthropic  to 
that  portion  of  the  Kainozoic  period  which  intervenes  between 
the  close  of  the  Glacial  age  and  the  present  time,  and  that  we 
admit  the  division  of  this  into  two  portions,  the  earlier,  called 
the  Palanthropic,  and  the  later,  which  still  continues,  the  Nean- 
thropic,  it  will  follow  that  one  great  physical  and  organic  break 
separates  the  Palanthropic  age  from  the  preceding  Glacial,  and 
a  second  similar  break  separates  the  two  divisions  of  the  An- 
thropic from  each  other.  This  being  settled,  if  we  allow  say 
2,500  years  from  the  Glacial  age  for  the  first  peopling  of  the 
world  and  the  Palanthropic  age,  and  if  we  consider  the  modern 
history  of  the  European  region  and  the  adjoining  parts  of  Asia 


EARLY   MAN 


and  Africa  to  go  back  for  5,000  years,  there  will  remain  a  space 
of  from  500  to  1,000  years  for  the  destruction  of  the  Palseo- 
cosmic  men  and  the  re-peopling  of  the  old  continent  by  such 
survivors  as  founded  the  Neocosmic  peoples.  These  later 
peoples,  though  distinct  racially  from  their  predecessors,  may 
represent  a  race  contemporary  with  them  in  some  regions  in 
which  it  was  possible  to  survive  the  great  cataclysm,  so  that  we 
do  not  need  to  ask  for  time  to  develop  such  new  race.1 

We  cannot  but  feel  some  regret  that  the  grand  old  Palreo- 
cosmic  race  was  destined  to  be  swept  away  by  the  flood,  but  it 
was  no  doubt  better  for  the  world  that  it  should  be  replaced  by 
a  more  refined  if  feebler  race.  When  we  see  how  this  has,  in 
some  of  its  forms,  reverted  to  the  old  type,  and  emulated,  if  not 
surpassed  it  in  filling  the  earth  with  violence,  we  may,  perhaps, 
congratulate  ourselves  on  the  extinction  of  the  giant  races  of  the 
olden  time. 

REFERENCES  : — "  Fossil  Men,"  London,  1880.  The  Antiquity  of  Man, 
Princeton  Keview.  "  Pre-historic  Man  in  Egypt  and  the  Lebanon," 
Trans.  Viet.  Institute,  1884.  Pre-historic  Times  in  Egypt  and  Palestine, 
North  American  Review,  June  and  July,  1892. 


1  For  details  of  the  physical  characters  of  the  older  races  of  men  I  may 
refer  to  the  works  mentioned  below,  or  to  the  writings  of  Dawkins  and 
Quatrefages. 


MAN  IN  NATURE. 


DEDICATED   TO   THE    MEMORY   OF 

MY    DEAR    FRIEND    DR.    P.    P.    CARPENTER, 

AT  ONCE  AN  EMINENT  NATURALIST  AND 

EDUCATOR— 

EQUALLY  A  LOVER  OF  NATURE, 
OF  HIS  FELLOW  MEN  AND  OF  GOD. 


WHAT  is  NATURE — MAN  A  PART  OF  NATURE — DISTINCTION 
BETWEEN  MAN  AND  OTHER  ANIMALS — MAN  AS  AN 
IMITATOR  OF  NATURE — MAN  AS  AT  WAR  WITH  NATURE 
— MAN  IN  HARMONY  WITH  NATURE 


CARVING  OF  THE  PALANTHROPIC  AGE. — Cave  of  Mas  d'Azil,  France; 
after  Cartailhac. 

Heads  of  the  wild  horse,  carved  on  antler  of  the  reindeer,  and  showing 
accurate  imitation  of  nature,  with  ideal  and  adaptive  art  on  the  part  of  the 
antediluvian  sculptor.  (See  p.  490.) 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
MAN   IN  NATURE. 

FEW  words  are  used  among  us  more  loosely  than  "nature." 
Sometimes  it  stands  for  the  material  universe  as  a  whole. 
Sometimes  it  is  personified  as  a  sort  of  goddess,  working  her 
own  sweet  will  with  material  things.  Sometimes  it  expresses 
the  forces  which  act  on  matter,  and  again  it  stands  for  material 
things  themselves.  It  is  spoken  of  as  subject  to  law,  but  just 
as  often  natural  law  is  referred  to  in  terms  which  imply  that 
nature  itself  is  the  lawgiver.  It  is  supposed  to  be  opposed  to 
the  equally  vague  term  "  supernatural "  ;  but  this  term  is  used 
not  merely  to  denote  things  above  and  beyond  nature,  if  there 
are  such,  but  certain  opinions  held  respecting  natural  things. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  natural  is  contrasted  with  the  artificial, 
though  this  is  always  the  outcome  of  natural  powers,  and  is 
certainly  not  supernatural.  Again,  it  is  applied  to  the  inherent 
properties  of  beings  for  which  we  are  unable  to  account,  and 
which  we  are  content  to  say  constitute  their  nature.  We  can- 
not look  into  the  works  of  any  of  the  more  speculative  writers 
of  the  day  without  meeting  with  all  these  uses  of  the  word,  and 
have  to  be  constantly  on  our  guard  lest  by  a  change  of  its 
meaning  we  shall  be  led  to  assent  to  some  proposition  alto- 
gether unfounded. 

For  illustrations  of  this  convenient  though  dangerous  ambi- 
guity, I  may  turn  at  random  to  almost  any  page  in  Darwin's 
celebrated  work  on  the  "Origin  of  Species."  In  the  beginning 
of  Chapter  III.  he  speaks  of  animals  "in  a  state  of  nature" 


482  MAN   IN    NATURE 


that  is,  not  in  a  domesticated  or  artificial  condition,  so  that  here 
nature  is  opposed  to  the  devices  of  man.  Then  he  speaks  of 
species  as  "arising  in  nature,"  that  is,  spontaneously  produced 
in  the  midst  of  certain  external  conditions  or  environment  out- 
side of  the  organic  world.  A  little  farther  on  he  speaks  of  use- 
ful varieties  as  given  to  man  by  "  the  hand  of  Nature,"  which 
here  becomes  an  imaginary  person  ;  and  it  is  worthy  of  notice 
that  in  this  place  the  printer  or  proof-reader  has  given  the  word 
an  initial  capital,  as  if  a  proper  name.  In  the  next  section  he 
speaks  of  the  "  works  of  Nature  "  as  superior  to  those  of  art. 
Here  the  word  is  not  only  opposed  to  the  artificial,  but  seems 
to  imply  some  power  above  material  things  and  comparable 
with  or  excelling  the  contriving  intelligence  of  man.  I  do  not 
mean  by  these  examples  to  imply  that  Darwin  is  in  this  respect 
more  inaccurate  than  other  writers.  On  the  contrary,  he  is 
greatly  surpassed  by  many  of  his  contemporaries  in  the  varied 
and  fantastic  uses  of  this  versatile  word.  An  illustration  which 
occurs  to  me  here,  as  at  once  amusing  and  instructive,  is  an 
expression  used  by  Romanes,  one  of  the  cleverest  of  the  fol- 
lowers of  the  great  evolutionist,  and  which  appears  to  him  to 
give  a  satisfactory  explanation  of  the  mystery  of  elevation  in 
nature.  He  says,  "  Nature  selects  the  best  individuals  out  of 
each  generation  to  live."  Here  nature  must  be  an  intelligent 
agent,  or  the  statement  is  simply  nonsensical.  The  same  alter- 
native applies  to  much  of  the  use  of  the  favourite  term  "  natural 
selection."  In  short,  those  who  use  such  modes  of  expression 
would  be  more  consistent  if  they  were  at  once  to  come  back  to 
the  definition  of  Seneca,  that  nature  is  "  a  certain  divine  purpose 
manifested  in  the  world." 

The  derivation  of  the  word  gives  us  the  idea  of  something 
produced  or  becoming,  and  it  is  curious  that  the  Greek  physis, 
though  etymologically  distinct,  conveys  the  same  meaning — a 
coincidence  which  may  perhaps  lead  us  to  a  safe  and  service- 
able definition.  Nature,  rightly  understood,  is,  in  short,  an 


MAN   IN   NATURE  483 


orderly  system  of  things  in  time  and  space,  and  this  not  invari- 
able, but  in  a  state  of  constant  movement  and  progress,  whereby 
it  is  always  becoming  something  different  from  what  it  was. 
Now  man  is  placed  in  the  midst  of  this  orderly,  law- regulated 
yet  ever  progressive  system,  and  is  himself  a  part  of  it ;  and  if 
we  can  understand  his  real  relations  to  its  other  parts,  we  shall 
have  made  some  approximation  to  a  true  philosophy.  The 
subject  has  been  often  discussed,  but  is  perhaps  not  yet  quite 
exhausted.1 

Regarding  man  as  a  part  of  nature,  we  must  hold  to  his 
entering  into  the  grand  unity  of  the  natural  system,  and  must 
not  set  up  imaginary  antagonisms  between  man  and  nature  as 
if  he  were  outside  of  it.  An  instance  of  this  appears  in  Tyn- 
dall's  celebrated  Belfast  address,  where  he  says,  in  explanation 
of  the  errors  of  certain  of  the  older  philosophers,  that  "  the  ex- 
periences which  formed  the  weft  and  woof  of  their  theories  were 
chosen  not  from  the  study  of  nature,  but  from  that  which  lay 
much  nearer  to  them — the  observation  of  Man  ":  a  statement 
this  which  would  make  man  a  supernatural,  or  at  least  a  preter- 
natural being.  Again,  it  does  not  follow,  because  man  is  a  part 
of  nature,  that  he  must  be  precisely  on  a  level  with  its  other 
parts.  There  are  in  nature  many  planes  of  existence,  and  man 
is  no  doubt  on  one  of  its  higher  planes,  and  possesses  distin- 
guishing powers  and  properties  of  his  own.  Nature,  like  a  per- 
fect organism,  is  not  all  eye  or  all  hand,  but  includes  various 
organs,  and  so  far  as  we  see  it  in  our  planet,  man  is  its  head, 
though  we  can  easily  conceive  that  there  may  be  higher  beings 
in  other  parts  of  the  universe  beyond  our  ken. 

The  view  which  we  may  take  of  man's  position  relatively  to 
the  beings  which  are  nearest  to  him,  namely,  the  lower  animals, 
will  depend  on  our  point  of  sight— whether  that  of  mere  anatomy 

1  "  Man's  Place  in  Nature,"  Princeton  Review,  November,  1878.  "The 
Unity  of  Nature,"  by  the  Duke  of  Argyll,  1884,  may  be  considered  as  sug- 
gestive of  the  thoughts  of  this  chapter. 


484  MAN   IN    NATURE 


and  physiology,  or  that  of  psychology  and  pneumatology  as 
well.  This  distinction  is  the  more  important,  since,  under  the 
somewhat  delusive  term  "biology,"  it  has  been  customary  to 
mix  up  all  these  considerations,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  those 
anatomists  who  regard  all  the  functions  of  organic  beings  as 
merely  mechanical  and  physical,  do  not  scruple  to  employ  this 
term  biology  for  their  science,  though  on  their  hypothesis  there 
can  be  no  such  thing  as  life,  and  consequently  the  use  of  the 
word  by  them  must  be  either  superstitious  or  hypocritical. 

Anatomically  considered,  man  is  an  animal  of  the  class 
Mammalia.  In  that  class,  notwithstanding  the  heroic  efforts  of 
some  modern  detractors  from  his  dignity  to  place  him  with  the 
monkeys  in  the  order  Primates,  he  undoubtedly  belongs  to  a 
distinct  order.  I  have  elsewhere  argued  that,  if  he  were  an  ex- 
tinct animal,  the  study  of  the  bones  of  his  hand,  or  of  his  head, 
would  suffice  to  convince  any  competent  palaeontologist  that  he 
represents  a  distinct  order,  as  far  apart  from  the  highest  apes  as 
they  are  from  the  carnivora.  That  he  belongs  to  a  distinct 
family  no  anatomist  denies,  and  the  same  unanimity  of  course 
obtains  as  to  his  generic  and  specific  distinctness.  On  the  other 
hand,  no  zoological  systematist  now  doubts  that  all  the  races  of 
men  are  specifically  identical.  Thus  we  have  the  anatomical 
position  of  man  firmly  fixed  in  the  system  of  nature,  and  he 
must  be  content  to  acknowledge  his  kinship  not  only  with  the 
higher  animals  nearest  to  him,  but  with  the  humblest  animalcule. 
With  all  he  shares  a  common  material  and  many  common  fea- 
tures of  structure. 

When  we  ascend  to  the  somewhat  higher  plane  of  physiology 
we  find  in  a  general  way  the  same  relationship  to  animals.  Of 
the  four  grand  leading  functions  of  the  animal,  nutrition,  repro- 
duction, voluntary  motion,  and  sensation,  all  are  performed  by 
man  as  by  other  animals.  Here,  however,  there  are  some 
marked  divergences  connected  with  special  anatomical  struc- 
tures, on  the  one  hand,  and  with  his  higher  endowments  on  the 


MAN    IN    NATURE  485 


other.  With  regard  to  food,  for  example,  man  might  be  sup- 
posed to  be  limited  by  his  masticatory  and  digestive  apparatus 
to  succulent  vegetable  substances.  But  by  virtue  of  his  inven- 
tive faculties  he  is  practically  unlimited,  being  able  by  artificial 
processes  to  adapt  the  whole  range  of  vegetable  and  animal 
food  substances  to  his  use.  He  is  very  poorly  furnished  with 
natural  tools  to  aid  in  procuring  food,  as  claws,  tusks,  etc., 
but  by  invented  implements  he  can  practically  surpass  all  other 
creatures.  The  long  time  of  helplessness  in  infancy,  while 
it  is  necessary  for  the  development  of  his  powers,  is  a  practi- 
cal disadvantage  which  leads  to  many  social  arrangements  and 
contrivances  specially  characteristic  of  man.  Man's  sensory 
powers,  while  inferior  in  range  to  those  of  many  other  animals, 
are  remarkable  for  balance  and  completeness,  leading  to  percep- 
tions of  differences  in  colours,  sounds,  etc.,  which  lie  at  the 
foundation  of  art.  The  specialization  of  the  hand  again  connects 
itself  with  contrivances  which  render  an  animal  naturally  de- 
fenceless the  most  formidable  of  all,  and  an  animal  naturally 
gifted  with  indifferent  locomotive  powers  able  to  outstrip  all 
others  in  speed  and  range  of  locomotion.  Thus  the  physiolo- 
gical endowments  of  man,  while  common  to  him  with  other 
animals,  and  in  some  respects  inferior  to  theirs,  present  in  com- 
bination with  his  higher  powers  points  of  difference  which  lead 
to  the  most  special  and  unexpected  results. 

In  his  psychical  relations,  using  this  term  in  its  narrower 
sense,  we  may  see  still  greater  divergencies  from  the  line  of 
the  lower  animals.  These  may  no  doubt  be  connected  with 
his  greater  volume  of  brain ;  but  recent  researches  seem  to 
show  that  brain  has  more  to  do  with  motory  and  sensory 
powers  than  with  those  that  are  intellectual,  and  thus,  that  a 
larger  brain  is  only  indirectly  connected  with  higher  mental 
manifestations.  Even  in  the  lower  animals  it  is  clear  that  the 
ferocity  of  the  tiger,  the  constructive  instinct  of  the  beaver,  and 
the  sagacity  of  the  elephant  depend  on  psychical  powers  which 
24 


486  MAN   IN    NATURE 


are  beyond  the  reach  of  the  anatomist's  knife,  and  this  is  still 
more  markedly  the  case  in  man.  Following  in  part  the  in- 
genious analysis  of  Mivart,  we  may  regard  the  psychical  powers 
of  man  as  reflex,  instinctive,  emotional,  and  intellectual ;  and 
in  each  of  these  aspects  we  shall  find  points  of  resemblance  to 
other  animals,  and  of  divergence  from  them.  In  regard  to  re- 
flex actions,  or  those  which  are  merely  automatic,  inasmuch  as 
they  are  intended  to  provide  for  certain  important  functions 
without  thought  or  volition,  their  development  is  naturally  in 
the  inverse  ratio  of  psychical  elevation,  and  man  is  conse- 
quently, in  this  respect,  in  no  way  superior  to  lower  animals. 
The  same  may  be  said  with  reference  to  instinctive  powers, 
which  provide  often  for  complex  actions  in  a  spontaneous  and 
unreasoning  manner.  In  these  also  man  is  rather  deficient 
than  otherwise ;  and  since,  from  their  nature,  they  limit  their 
possessors  to  narrow  ranges  of  activity,  and  fix  them  within 
a  definite  scope  of  experience  and  efficiency,  they  would  be 
incompatible  with  those  higher  and  more  versatile  inventive 
powers  which  man  possesses.  The  comb-building  instinct  of 
the  bee,  the  nest-weaving  instinct  of  the  bird,  are  fixed  and 
invariable  things,  obviously  incompatible  with  the  varied  con- 
trivance of  man ;  and  while  instinct  is  perfect  within  its  narrow 
range,  it  cannot  rise  beyond  this  into  the  sphere  of  unlimited 
thought  and  contrivance.  Higher  than  mere  instinct  are  the 
powers  of  imagination,  memory,  and  association,  and  here  man 
at  once  steps  beyond  his  animal  associates,  and  develops  these 
in  such  a  variety  of  ways,  that  even  the  rudest  tribes  of  men, 
who  often  appear  to  trust  more  to  these  endowments  than  to 
higher  powers,  rise  into  a  plane  immeasurably  above  that  of 
the  highest  and  most  intelligent  brutes,  and  toward  which  they 
are  unable,  except  to  a  very  limited  degree,  to  raise  those  of 
the  more  domesticable  animals  which  they  endeavour  to  train 
into  companionship  with  themselves.  It  is,  however,  in  these 
domesticated  animals  that  we  find  the  highest  degree  of  approx- 


MAN   IN    NATURE  487 


imation  to  ourselves  in  emotional  development,  and  this  is 
perhaps  one  of  the  points  that  fits  them  for  such  human  asso- 
ciation. In  approaching  the  higher  psychical  endowments,  the 
affinity  of  man  and  the  brute  appears  to  diminish  and  at  length 
to  cease,  and  it  is  left  to  him  alone  to  rise  into  the  domain  of 
the  rational  and  ethical. 

Those  supreme  endowments  of  man  we  may,  following  the 
nomenclature  of  ancient  philosophy  and  of  our  Sacred  Scrip- 
tures, call  "  pneumatical "  or  spiritual.  They  consist  of  con- 
sciousness, reason,  and  moral  volition.  That  man  possesses 
these  powers  every  one  knows ;  that  they  exist  or  can  be  de- 
veloped in  lower  animals  no  one  has  .succeeded  in  proving. 
Here,  at  length,  we  have  a  severance  between  man  and  material 
nature.  Yet  it  does  not  divorce  him  from  the  unity  of  nature, 
except  on  the  principles  of  atheism.  For  if  it  separates  him 
from  animals,  it  allies  him  with  the  Power  who  made  and 
planned  the  animals.  To  the  naturalist  the  fact  that  such 
capacities  exist  in  a  being  who  in  his  anatomical  structure  so 
closely  resembles  the  lower  animals,  constitutes  an  evidence  of 
the  independent  existence  of  those  powers  and  of  their  spiritual 
character  and  relation  to  a  higher  power  which,  I  think,  no 
metaphysical  reasoning  or  materialistic  scepticism  will  suffice 
to  invalidate.  It  would  be  presumption,  however,  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  naturalist  to  discuss  at  length  the  powers  of 
man's  spiritual  being.  I  may  refer  merely  to  a  few  points 
which  illustrate  at  once  his  connection  with  other  creatures, 
and  his  superiority  to  them  as  a  higher  member  of  nature. 

And,  first,  we  may  notice  those  axiomatic  beliefs  which  lie  at 
the  foundation  of  human  reasoning,  and  which,  while  appa- 
rently in  harmony  with  nature,  do  not  admit  of  verification 
except  by  an  experience  impossible  to  finite  beings.  Whether 
these  are  ultimate  truths,  or  merely  results  of  the  constitution 
bestowed  on  us,  or  effects  of  the  direct  action  of  the  creative 
mind  on  ours,  they  are  to  us  like  the  instincts  of  animals — in- 


MAN    IN    NATURE 


fallible  and  unchanging.  Yet,  just  as  the  instincts  of  animals 
unfailingly  connect  them  with  their  surroundings,  our  intui- 
tive beliefs  fit  us  for  understanding  nature  and  for  existing  in  it 
as  our  environment.  These  beliefs  also  serve  to  connect  man 
with  his  fellow  man,  and  in  this  aspect  we  may  associate  with 
them  those  universal  ideas  of  right  and  wrong,  of  immortality, 
and  of  powers  above  ourselves,  which  pervade  humanity. 

Another  phase  of  this  spiritual  constitution  is  illustrated  by 
the  ways  in  which  man,  starting  from  powers  and  contrivances 
common  to  him  and  animals,  develops  them  into  new  and 
higher  uses  and  results.  This  is  markedly  seen  in  the  gift  of 
speech.  Man,  like  other  animals,  has  certain  natural  utterances 
expressive  of  emotions  or  feelings.  He  can  also,  like  some  of 
them,  imitate  the  sounds  produced  by  animate  or  inanimate 
objects ;  while  the  constitution  of  his  brain  and  vocal  organs 
gives  him  special  advantages  for  articulate  utterance.  But 
when  he  develops  these  gifts  into  a  system  of  speech  express- 
ing not  mere  sounds  occurring  in  nature,  but  by  association 
and  analogy  with  these,  properties  and  relations  of  objects  and 
general  and  abstract  ideas,  he  rises  into  the  higher  sphere  of 
the  spiritual.  He  thus  elevates  a  power  of  utterance  common 
to  him  with  animals  to  a  higher  plane,  and  connecting  it  with 
his  capacity  for  understanding  nature  and  arriving  at  general 
truths,  asserts  his  kinship  to  the  great  creative  mind,  and  fur- 
nishes a  link  of  connection  between  the  material  universe  and 
the  spiritual  Creator. 

The  manner  of  existence  of  man  in  nature  is  as  well  illus- 
trated by  his  arts  and  inventions  as  by  anything  else ;  and 
these  serve  also  to  enlighten  us  as  to  the  distinction  between 
the  natural  and  the  artificial.  Naturalists  often  represent  man 
as  dependent  on  nature  for  the  first  hints  of  his  useful  arts. 
There  are  in  animal  nature  tailors,  weavers,  masons,  potters, 
carpenters,  miners,  and  sailors,  independently  of  man,  and 
many  of  the  tools,  implements,  and  machines  which  he  is  said 


MAN   IN    NATURE  489 


to  have  invented  were  perfected  in  the  structures  of  lower  ani- 
mals long  before  he  came  into  existence.  In  all  these  things 
man  has  been  an  assiduous  learner  from  nature,  though  in 
some  of  them,  as  for  example  in  the  art  of  aerial  navigation, 
he  has  striven  in  vain  to  imitate  the  powers  possessed  by  other 
animals.  But  it  may  well  be  doubted  whether  man  is  in  this 
respect  so  much  an  imitator  as  has  been  supposed,  and  whether 
the  resemblance  of  his  plans  to  those  previously  realized  in 
nature  does  not  depend  on  that  general  fitness  of  things  which 
suggests  to  rational  minds  similar  means  to  secure  similar 
ends.  But  in  saying  this  we  in  effect  say  that  man  is  not  only 
a  part  of  nature,  but  that  his  mind  is  in  harmony  with  the 
plans  of  nature,  or,  in  other  words,  with  the  methods  of  the 
creative  mind.  Man  is  also  curiously  in  harmony  with  ex- 
ternal nature  in  the  combination  in  his  works  of  the  ideas  of 
plan  and  adaptation,  of  ornament  and  use.  In  architecture, 
for  example,  devising  certain  styles  or  orders,  and  these  for 
the  most  part  based  on  imitations  of  natural  things ;  he  adapts 
these  to  his  ends,  just  as  in  nature  types  of  structure  are  adapted 
to  a  great  variety  of  uses,  and  he  strives  to  combine,  as  in 
nature,  perfect  adaptation  to  use  with  conformity  to  type  or 
style.  So,  in  his  attempts  at  ornament  he  copies  natural  forms, 
and  uses  these  forms  to  decorate  or  conceal  parts  intended  to 
serve  essential  purposes  in  the  structure.  This  is  at  least  the 
case  in  the  purer  styles  of  construction.  It  is  in  the  more  de- 
based styles  that  arches,  columns,  triglyphs,  or  buttresses  are 
placed  where  they  can  serve  no  useful  purpose,  and  become 
mere  excrescences.  But  in  this  case  the  abnormality  resulting 
breeds  in  the  beholder  an  unpleasing  mental  confusion,  and 
causes  him,  even  when  he  is  unable  to  trace  his  feelings  to 
their  source,  to  be  dissatisfied  with  the  result.  Thus  man  is 
in  harmony  with  that  arrangement  of  nature  which  causes 
every  ornamental  part  to  serve  some  use,  and  which  unites 
adaptation  with  plan. 


490  MAN   IN    NATURE 


The  following  of  nature  must  also  form  the  basis  of  those 
fine  arts  which  are  not  necessarily  connected  with  any  utility, 
and  in  man's  pursuit  of  art  of  this  kind  we  see  one  of  the  most 
recondite  and  at  first  sight  inexplicable  of  his  correspondences 
with  the  other  parts  of  nature  ;  for  there  is  no  other  creature 
that  pursues  art  for  its  own  sake.  Modern  archaeological  dis- 
covery has  shown  that  the  art  of  sculpture  began  with  the 
oldest  known  races  of  man,  and  that  they  succeeded  in  produc- 
ing very  accurate  imitations  of  natural  objects.  But  from  this 
primitive  starting-point  two  ways  diverge.  One  leads  to  the 
conventional  and  the  grotesque,  and  this  course  has  been 
followed  by  many  semi-civilized  nations.  Another  leads  to 
accurate  imitation  of  nature,  along  with  new  combinations 
arising  from  the  play  of  intellect  and  imagination.  Let  us  look 
for  a  moment  at  the  actual  result  of  the  development  of  these 
diverse  styles  of  art,  and  at  their  effect  on  the  culture  of  hu- 
manity as  existing  in  nature.  We  may  imagine  a  people  who 
have  wholly  discarded  nature  in  their  art,  and  have  devoted 
themselves  to  the  monstrous  and  the  grotesque.  Such  a 
people,  so  far  as  art  is  concerned,  separates  itself  widely  from 
nature  and  from  the  mind  of  the  Creator,  and  its  taste  and 
possibly  its  morals  sink  to  the  level  of  the  monsters  it  pro- 
duces. Again,  we  may  imagine  a  people  in  all  respects 
following  nature  in  a  literal  and  servile  manner.  Such  a  people 
would  probably  attain  to  but  a  very  moderate  amount  of  cul- 
ture, but  having  a  good  foundation,  it  might  ultimately  build 
up  higher  things.  Lastly,  we  may  fancy  a  people  who,  like 
the  old  Greeks,  strove  to  add  to  the  copying  of  nature  a  higher 
and  ideal  beauty  by  combining  in  one  the  best  features  of 
many  natural  objects,  or  devising  new  combinations  not  found 
in  nature  itself.  In  the  first  of  these  conditions  of  art  we  have 
a  falling  away  from  or  caricaturing  of  the  beauty  of  nature.  In 
the  second  we  have  merely  a  pupilage  to  nature.  In  the  third 
we  find  man  aiming  to  be  himself  a  creator,  but  basing  his 


MAN   IN   NATURE  491 


creations  on  what  nature  has  given  him.  Thus  all  art  worthy 
of  the  name  is  really  a  development  of  .nature.  It  is  true  the 
eccentricities  of  art  and  fashion  are  so  erratic  that  they  may 
often  seem  to  have  no  law.  Yet  they  are  all  under  the  rule 
of  nature ;  and  hence  even  uninstructed  common-sense,  unless 
dulled  by  long  familiarity,  detects  in  some  degree  their  incon- 
gruity, and  though  it  may  be  amused  for  a  time,  at  length 
becomes  wearied  with  the  mental  irritation  and  nervous  dis- 
quiet which  they  produce. 

I  may  be  permitted  to  add  that  all  this  applies  with  still 
greater  force  to  systems  of  science  and  philosophy.  Ultimately 
these  must  be  all  tested  by  the  verities  of  nature  to  which  man 
necessarily  submits  his  intellect,  and  he  who  builds  for  aye  must 
build  on  the  solid  ground  of  nature.  The  natural  environ- 
ment presents  itself  in  this  connection  as  an  educator  of  man. 
From  the  moment  when  infancy  begins  to  exercise  its  senses 
on  the  objects  around,  this  education  begins — training  the 
powers  of  observation  and  comparison,  cultivating  the  concep- 
tion of  the  grand  and  beautiful,  leading  to  analysis  and  abstract 
and  general  ideas.  Left  to  itself,  it  is  true  this  natural  educa- 
tion extends  but  a  little  way,  and  ordinarily  it  becomes  or> 
scured  or  crushed  by  the  demands  of  a  hard  utility,  or  by  an 
artificial  literary  culture,  or  by  the  habitude  of  monstrosity  and 
unfitness  in  art.  Yet,  when  rightly  directed,  it  is  capable  of 
becoming  an  instrument  of  the  highest  culture,  intellectual, 
aesthetic,  and  even  moral.  A  rational  system  of  education 
would  follow  nature  in  the  education  of  the  young,  and  drop 
much  that  is  arbitrary  and  artificial.  Here  I  would  merely 
remark,  that  when  we  find  that  the  accurate  and  systematic 
study  of  nature  trains  most  effectually  some  of  the  more  prac- 
tical powers  of  mind,  and  leads  to  the  highest  development  of 
taste  for  beauty  in  art,  we  see  in  this  relation  the  unity  of  man 
and  nature,  and  the  unity  of  both  with  something  higher  than 
either. 


492  MAN    IN    NATURE 


It  may,  however,  occur  to  us  here,  that  when  we  consider 
man  as  an  improver  and  innovator  in  the  world,  there  is  much 
that  suggests  a  contrariety  between  him  and  nature,  and  that, 
instead  of  being  the  pupil  of  his  environment,  he  becomes  its 
tyrant.  In  this  aspect  man,  and  especially  civilized  man,  appears 
as  the  enemy  of  wild  nature,  so  that  in  those  districts  which 
he  has  most  fully  subdued,  many  animals  and  plants  have  been 
exterminated,  and  nearly  the  whole  surface  has  come  under  his 
processes  of  culture,  and  has  lost  the  characteristics  which 
belonged  to  it  in  its  primitive  state.  Nay  more,  we  find  that 
by  certain  kinds  of  so  called  culture  man  tends  to  exhaust  and 
impoverish  the  soil,  so  that  it  ceases  to  minister  to  his  com- 
fortable support,  and  becomes  a  desert.  Vast  regions  of  the 
earth  are  in  this  impoverished  condition,  and  the  westward 
march  of  exhaustion  warns  us  that  the  time  may  come  when 
even  in  comparatively  new  countries,  like  America,  the  land  will 
cease  to  be  able  to  sustain  its  inhabitants.  Behind  this  stands 
a  still  farther  and  portentous  possibility.  The  resources  of 
chemistry  are  now  being  taxed  to  the  utmost  to  discover 
methods  by  which  the  materials  of  human  food  may  be  pro- 
duced synthetically,  and  we  may  possibly,  at  some  future  time, 
find  that  albumen  and  starch  may  be  manufactured  cheaply 
from  their  elements  by  artificial  processes.  Such  a  discovery 
might  render  man  independent  of  the  animal  and  vegetable 
kingdoms.  Agriculture  might  become  an  unnecessary  and  un- 
profitable art.  A  time  might  come  when  it  would  no  longer 
be  possible  to  find  on  earth  a  green  field,  or  a  wild  animal ; 
and  when  the  whole  earth  would  be  one  great  factory,  in  which 
toiling  millions  were  producing  all  the  materials  of  food,  cloth- 
ing, and  shelter.  Such  a  world  may  never  exist,  but  its  pos- 
sible existence  may  be  imagined,  and  its  contemplation  brings 
vividly  before  us  the  vast  powers  inherent  in  man  as  a  sub- 
verter  of  the  ordinary  course  of  nature.  Yet  even  this  ultimate 
annulling  of  wild  nature  would  be  brought  about  not  by  any- 


MAN   IN   NATURE  493 

thing  preternatural  in  man,  but  simply  by  his  placing  himself 
in  alliance  with  certain  natural  powers  and  agencies,  and  by 
their  means  attaining  dominion  over  the  rest. 

Here  there  rises  before  us  a  spectre  which  science  and 
philosophy  appear  afraid  to  face,  and  which  asks  the  dread 
question, — What  is  the  cause  of  the  apparent  abnormality  in 
the  relations  of  man  and  nature?  In  attempting  to  solve 
this  question,  we  must  admit  that  the  position  of  man,  even 
here,  is  not  without  natural  analogies.  The  stronger  preys 
upon  the  weaker,  the  lower  form  gives  place  to  the  higher, 
and  in  the  progress  of  geological  time  old  species  have  died 
out  in  favour  of  newer,  and  old  forms  of  life  have  been 
exterminated  by  later  successors.  Man,  as  the  newest  and 
highest  of  all,  has  thus  the  natural  right  to  subdue  and  rule 
the  world.  Yet  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  he  uses  this 
right  unwisely  and  cruelly,  and  these  terms  themselves  explain 
why  he  does  so,  because  they  imply  freedom  of  will.  Given 
a  system  of  nature  destitute  of  any  being  higher  than  the 
instinctive  animal,  and  introduce  into  it  a  free  rational  agent, 
and  you  have  at  once  an  element  of  instability.  So  long  as 
his  free  thought  and  purpose  continue  in  harmony  with  the 
arrangements  of  his  environment,  so  long  all  will  be  har- 
monious ;  but  the  very  hypothesis  of  freedom  implies  that  he 
can  act  otherwise,  and  so  perfect  is  the  equilibrium  of  existing 
things,  that  one  wrong  or  unwise  action  may  unsettle  the  nice 
balance,  and  set  in  operation  trains  of  causes  and  effects 
producing  continued  and  ever-increasing  disturbance.  Thus 
the  most  primitive  state  of  man,  though  destitute  of  all  me- 
chanical inventions,  may  have  been  better  in  relation  to  the 
other  parts  of  nature  than  any  that  he  has  subsequently 
attained  to.  His  "  many  inventions  "  have  injured  him  in 
his  natural  relations.  This  "  fall  of  man  "  we  know  as  a 
matter  of  observation  and  experience  has  actually  occurred, 
and  it  can  be  retrieved  only  by  casting  man  back  again  into 
24* 


494  MAN    IN    NATURE 

the  circle  of  merely  instinctive  action,  or  by  carrying  him 
forward  until,  by  growth  in  wisdom  and  knowledge,  he  becomes 
fitted  to  be  the  lord  of  creation.  The  first  method  has  been 
proved  unsuccessful  by  the  rebound  of  humanity  against  all 
the  attempts  to  curb  and  suppress  its  liberty.  The  second 
has  been  the  effort  of  all  reformers  and  philanthropists  since 
the  world  began,  and  its  imperfect  success  affords  a  strong 
ground  for  clinging  to  the  theistic  view  of  nature,  for  soliciting 
the  intervention  of  a  Power  higher  than  man,  and  for  hoping 
for  a  final  restitution  of  all  things  through  the  intervention  of 
that  Power.  Mere  materialistic  evolution  must  ever  and 
necessarily  fail  to  account  for  the  higher  nature  of  man,  and 
also  for  his  moral  aberrations.  These  only  come  rationally 
into  the  system  of  nature  under  the  supposition  of  a  Higher 
Intelligence,  from  whom  man  emanates,  and  whose  nature  he 
shares. 

But  on  this  theistic  view  we  are  introduced  to  a  kind  of 
unity  and  of  evolution  for  a  future  age,  which  is  the  great 
topic  of  revelation,  and  is  not  unknown  to  science  and  philo- 
sophy, in  connection  with  the  law  of  progress  and  develop- 
ment deducible  from  the  geological  history,  in  which  an 
ascending  series  of  lower  animals  culminates  in  man  himself. 
Why  should  there  not  be  a  new  and  higher  plane  of  existence 
to  be  attained  to  by  humanity — a  new  geological  period,  so 
to  speak,  in  which  present  anomalies  shall  be  corrected,  and 
the  grand  unity  of  the  universe  and  its  harmony  with  its 
Maker  fully  restored.  This  is  what  Paul  anticipates  when  he 
tells  us  of  a  "  pneumatical "  or  spiritual  body,  to  succeed  to 
the  present  natural  or  "  psychical  "  one,  or  what  Jesus  Himself 
tells  us  when  He  says  that  in  the  future  state  we  shall  be  like 
to  the  angels.  Angels  are  not  known  to  us  as  objects  of 
scientific  observation,  but  such  an  order  of  beings  is  quite 
conceivable,  and  this  not  as  supernatural,  but  as  part  of  the 
order  of  nature.  They  are  created  beings  like  ourselves, 


MAN    IN    NATURE  495 

subject  to  the  laws  of  the  universe,  yet  free  and  intelligent 
and  liable  to  error,  in  bodily  constitution  freed  from  many  of 
the  limitations  imposed  on  us,  mentally  having  higher  range 
and  grasp,  and  consequently  masters  of  natural  powers  not 
under  our  control.  In  short,  we  have  here  pictured  to  us 
an  order  of  beings  forming  a  part  of  nature,  yet  in  their 
powers  as  miraculous  to  us  as  we  might  be  supposed  to  be 
to  lower  animals,  could  they  think  of  such  things.  This  idea 
of  angels  bridges  over  the  great  natural  gulf  between  humanity 
and  deity,  and  illustrates  a  higher  plane  than  that  of  man 
in  his  present  state,  but  attainable  in  the  future.  Dim  per- 
ceptions of  this  would  seem  to  constitute  the  substratum  of 
the  ideas  of  the  so-called  polytheistic  religions.  Christianity 
itself  is  in  this  aspect  not  so  much  a  revelation  of  the  super- 
natural as  the  highest  bond  of  the  great  unity  of  nature.  It 
reveals  to  us  the  perfect  Man,  who  is  also  one  with  God,  and 
the  mission  of  this  Divine  Man  to  restore  the  harmonies  of 
God  and  humanity,  and  consequently  also  of  man  with  his 
natural  environment  in  this  world,  and  with  his  spiritual  en- 
vironment in  the  higher  world  of  the  future.  If  it  is  true 
that  nature  now  groans  because  of  man's  depravity,  and  that 
man  himself  shares  in  the  evils  of  this  disharmony  with  nature 
around  him,  it  is  clear  that  if  man  could  be  restored  to  his 
true  place  in  nature  he  would  be  restored  to  happiness  and 
to  harmony  with  God,  and  if,  on  the  other  hand,  he  can  be 
restored  to  harmony  with  God,  he  will  then  be  restored  also 
to  harmony  with  his  natural  environment,  and  so  to  life  and 
happiness  and  immortality.  It  is  here  that  the  old  story  of 
Eden,  and  the  teaching  of  Christ,  and  the  prophecy  of  the 
New  Jerusalem  strike  the  same  note  which  all  material  nature 
gives  forth  when  we  interrogate  it  respecting  its  relations  to 
man.  The  profound  manner  in  which  these  truths  appear  in 
the  teaching  of  Christ  has  perhaps  not  been  appreciated  as  it 
should,  because  we  have  not  sought  in  that  teaching  the 


496  MAN    IN    NATURE 

philosophy  of  nature  which  it  contains.  When  He  points  to 
the  common  weeds  of  the  fields,  and  asks  us  to  consider  the 
garments  more  gorgeous  than  those  of  kings  in  which  God 
has  clothed  them,  and  when  He  says  of  these  same  wild 
flowers,  so  daintily  made  by  the  Supreme  Artificer,  that  to-day 
they  are,  and  to-morrow  are  cast  into  the  oven,  He  gives  us 
not  merely  a  lesson  of  faith,  but  a  deep  insight  into  that  want 
of  unison  which,  centring  in  humanity,  reaches  all  the  way 
from  the  wild  flower  to  the  God  who  made  it,  and  requires 
for  its  rectification  nothing  less  than  the  breathing  of  that 
Divine  Spirit  which  first  evoked  order  and  life  out  of  primeval 
chaos. 

REFERENCES  : — Articles  in  Princeton  Review  on  Man  in  Nature  and  on 
Evolution.  "The  Story  of  the  Earth  and  Man."  London, 
1890.  "  Modern  Ideas  of  Evolution."  London,  1891.  Nature  as  an 
Educator.  Canadian  Record  of  Science,  1890. 


INDEX   OF   PRINCIPAL  TOPICS. 


Airbreathers,  their  Origin  and  His- 
tory, 257,  303. 

Alpine  and  Arctic  Plants,  their 
Geological  History,  425. 

American  Stone  Age,  464. 

Animals,  their  Apparition  and 
Succession,  169. 

their  Geological  History,  176, 

187,  194. 

Permanent  Forms  of,  87,  180. 

Antliropic  Age,  461. 

Antiquity  of  Man,  469. 

Arctic  Climates  in  the  Past,  213. 

Atlantic,  its  Origin  and  History,  57. 

Cosmical  Functions  of,  72. 

its  Influence  on  Climate,  81. 

Deposits  in,  83. 

Migrations  across,  84. 

Future  of,  90. 

Azores,  their  Animals,  408. 

Baphetes  planiceps,  263. 
Bay  of  Fundy,  its  Deposits,  312. 
— —  Footprints  on  Shores  of,  311. 
Bermudas,  their  Flora,  etc. ,  85. 
Boulders,  Belts  of,   on  Lower  St. 

Lawrence,  345. 
Boulder-Clay,  Nature,  etc.,  of,  360. 

Cave  Men,  476. 
Canstadt  Race,  474 
Chaos,  Vision  of,  90. 
Chronology  of  Pleistocene,  470. 


Climate,  its  Causes,  81. 

as  related  to  Plants,  215. 

Climatal  Changes,  382. 

Coal,  its  Nature  and  Structure,  235. 

its  Origin  and  Growth,  233. 

Summary  of  Facts  relating  to, 

241. 
of  Mesozoic  and  Tertiary,  249. 

its     Connection    with    Erect 

Forests,  296. 

Continents  and  Islands,  402. 

Permanence  of,  31,  403. 

Contrast    of    land    and    sea-borne 

Ice,  360. 

Corclilleran  Glaciers,  369. 
Cro-magnon  Race,  474. 
Crust  and  Sub-crust,  62. 

Dawn  of  Life,  95. 
Deluge,  The,  467. 
Dendrerpeton  Acadianum,  270. 
Determination  in  Nature,  329. 
Development  of  Life,  23. 

—  Laws  of,  194. 
Distribution  of  Animals  and  Plants, 

401. 
Drift  of  Western  Canada,  369 

Early  Man,  459. 
Engis  Race,  472. 
Eozoon,  Discovery  of,  in. 

Nature  of,  1 1 2. 

Contemporaries  of,  129. 

—  Teachings  of,  135. 


498 


INDEX   OF    PRINCIPAL   TOPICS. 


Eozoon,  Preservation  of  and  Struc- 
ture, 143. 

Eyes,  earliest  Types  of,  331. 

Evolution,  -its  partial  Character, 
188. 

Flora  of  White  Mountains,  421. 
Floras  originate  in  the  Arctic,  297. 
Floating  Ice,  360. 
Footprints  of  Reptiles,  260. 

of  Limulus,  319. 

Fossils,  Preservation  of,  136. 
Fucoids,  311. 

Galapagos,  how  Peopled,  412. 
Geographical  Changes  and  Climate, 

390. 
Geological  Record,  Imperfection  of, 

40. 

Glaciers,  Work  of,  353. 
Glacial  Period,  Conditions  of,  375. 
Gulf  Stream,  388. 

Hydrous  Silicates,  144. 

Huronian  as  a  Geological  System, 

104. 
Hylonomus  Lyelli,  279. 

Icebergs,  their  Nature  and  Work, 
348. 

Ice  Age,  the,  343. 

Imperfection  of  the  Geological  Re- 
cord, 40. 

Land  and  Water,  58. 
Land  Snails,  Earliest,  247. 
Labyrinthodonts,  their  Origin  and 

History,  265. 
Laurentian  System,  97. 

Life  in  the,  107. 

Laurentide  Glaciers,  364,  368. 
Leda  Clay  of  Lower  St.  Lawrence, 

365. 


Life,  First  Appearance  of,    19,  96, 

157. 

Limbs,  the  Earliest,  337. 
Limulus,  Footprints  of,  319- 

Magmas  under  Crust  of  the  Earth, 

63- 

Mammoth  Age,  466. 
Man  in  Nature,  484. 

—  Early,  461. 
an  Imitator  of  Natural  Objects, 

490. 

at   War   with   other   Natural 

Agencies,  495. 

in  harmony  with  Nature,  496. 

Markings,  Footprints,  etc.,  301. 

Rill  and  Rain,  etc.,  317. 

Microsauria,  279, 

Migrations  of  Plants,  434. 
Millipedes   of  Carboniferous   Age, 

295- 

Mineral  Charcoal,  237. 
Missouri  Coteau,  271. 
Mountains,  Origin  of,  33. 

Classes  of,  66. 

Mount  Washington,  426. 

Nature,    Various     Senses    of     the 

Term,  483. 
Neanthropic  Age,  472. 

Ocean,  the  Atlantic,  58,  67. 
Oceanic  Islands,  407. 

Palanthropic  Age,  462. 
Permanence  of  Continents,  31,  403. 

of  Animal  Forms,  87,  180. 

Plants,  Geological  History  of,  202. 

as   Indicators    of  Time   and 

Climate,  229. 

of  the  Erian,  Carboniferous, 

etc.,  202. 

of  the  Pleistocene,  439. 


INDEX   OF   PRINCIPAL   TOPICS. 


499 


Pleistocene,  Tabular  View  of,  472. 

Polygenesis  of  Species,  418. 

Predetermination  in  Nature,  329. 

Primitive  Rocks,  16. 

Protozoa,  their  Place  in  Nature,  1 52. 

Pseudo-Fucoids,  318. 

Pupa  Vetusta,  288. 

Races  of  Early  Men,  474. 
Rill  Marks,  317. 

Scorpions,  Carboniferous,  295. 

Sigillariic,  Erect,  276. 

Sorde,  Cave  of,  476. 

Species,  Permanence  of,  87,  180. 

Origin  of,  418. 

Sponges  in  Cambro-Silurian,  46. 
Spore-cases  in  Coal,  234. 
Stigmaria,  246. 
Stone  Age  in  America,  464. 

Terraces  of  Lower  St    Lawrence, 
346. 


Tides  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  312. 

Time,  Geological,  416. 

Tracks  of  Animals,  51. 

Trees,  Erect,  with  Animal  Remains, 

276. 
Tuckerman's  Ravine,  427. 

Underclays,      their     Origin     and 
Nature,  236. 

Vegetable  Life,  the  Earliest,  338. 
Vegetable    Kingdom,    its    History, 

202. 

Vertebrates,  History  ot,  183. 
Vision  of  Creation,  90. 


Worlds,  the  Making  of,  9,  14. 
Worm  Tracks,  318. 
White  Mountains,  426. 

Zoological  Regions,  405. 


SCIENCE  IN  BIBLE  LANDS. 


Modern  Science  in  Bible  Lands.  By  Sir  J.  W.  DAWSON, 
C.M.G.,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.  With  Maps  and  Illustrations. 
12mo,  Cloth,  $2  00. 

The  special  object  of  the  work,  the  author  tells  us,  is  "  to  notice  the 
light  which  the  scientific  explorations  of  the  countries  of  the  Bible 
may  throw  on  the  character  and  statements  of  the  book."  It  contains 
much  interesting  and  valuable  matter,  and  Sir  J.  W.  Dawson's  opinions 
and  explanations  will  doubtless  meet  with  the  respect  and  attention 
which  they  merit. — Academy,  London. 

Will  add  to  Professor  Dawson's  deservedly  high  reputation  as  a  scien- 
tist, and  will  be  found  to  possess  the  same  fascination  for  the  reader 
that  has  characterized  his  previous  works.  .  .  .  The  work  is  not  only 
a  most  interesing  and  valuable  one  from  a  scientific  point  of  view,  but 
will  prove  a  notable  addition  to  Biblical  literature. — Boston  Traveller. 

One  of  the  most  valuable  of  recent  books  for  Bible  students.  .  .  . 
This  volume  is  a  treatment  at  -once  scientific,  and  in  the  best  sense  pop- 
ular, of  such  phases  of  Bible  lands  as.  most  impressed  themselves  on  the 
professor's  mind  when  journeying  in  the  East. — Boxton  Advertiser. 

At  once  intensely  interesting  and  instructive. — Albany  Pres*. 

The  author  writes  delightfully,  even  in  his  technical  passages.  His 
book  gives  freshness  to  antiquity,  and  his  personal  adventures  and 
experiences,  though  told  modestly,  show  him  to  be  heroic  as  a  student  of 
science  and  religion — Philadelphia  Bulletin. 

A  very  interesting  and  instructive  work.  .  .  .  Not  its  least  charm  is  the 
agreeable  style  in  which  it  is  written,  and  which  makes  portions  of  it 
read  like  pages  from  a  romance — New  York  Sun. 

A  valuable  book  with  a  valuable  aim.  .  .  .  The  whole  book  is  vigor- 
ous, clear,  strong,  and  adds  another  word  of  deep  and  honest  thought 
to  correct  errors,  dissipate  doubts,  and  stimulate  faith. — Zions  Herald, 
Boston. 

A  work  of  great  scientific  and  Biblical  value.— Lutheran  Observer, 
Philadelphia. 

The  book  is  plain,  straightforward,  and  interesting,  and  its  scientific 
facts  and  deductions  are  of  value.  —  Western  Christian  Advocate,  Cin- 
cinnati. 

Professor  Dawson  in  this  volume  adds  to  his  well-earned  fame,  and  we 
predict  for  it  an  extensive  sale. — Evangelist,  New  York. 

Of  priceless  value  for  those  who  would  read  with  understanding  the 
only  real  history  the  world  has  ever  had,  or  will  have,  of  the  tir>t  three 
thousand  years  of  man's  life  in  the  world. — Standard,  Chicago. 

PUBLISHED  BY  HARPER  <fc  BROTHERS,  NEW  YORK. 

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ers,  po-tarje  prepaid,  to  any  part  of  tlte  United  Slates,  Canada,  or  Mexico,  on  r+ 
ceipt  of  price. 


THE   EARTH  A^D  MAX. 

The  Story  of  the  Earth  and  Man.  By  J.  W.  DAWSON, 
LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  F.G.S.,  Principal  and  Vice-Chancellor 
of  McGill  University,  Montreal.  New  Edition  with 
Corrections  and  Additions.  With  a  Colored  Diagram 
and  Illustrations.  12mo,  Cloth,  $1  50. 


This  little  book  is,  on  the  whole,  the  best  popular  geology  that  has 
ever  come  from  the  press.  The  subject  is  one  that  possesses  the  strong- 
est possible  interest  for  the  writer  ;ind  awakens  his  greatest  enthusiasm. 
One  of  the  strongest  and  most  interesting  chapters  in  the  volume  is  the 
first  of  the  two  on  primitive  man.  The  whole  book  is  remarkable  for  its 
simplicity,  clearness,  interest,  and  vitality. — Mail  and  Express,  N.  Y. 

The  work  is  full  of  absorbing  interest. —  Toledo  Blade. 

The  book  is  a  recognized  authority  on  the  subject  of  which  it  treats, 
and  worthy  of  a  place  in  the  library. — S.  S.  Journal,  N.  Y. 

We  advise  any  of  our  readers  who  have  been  carried  away  with  the 
evolution  craze — as  something  that  indicates  advanced  thinking — to  read 
this  most  valuable  work. —  Christian  Standard,  Cincinnati,  0. 

An  excellent  summary  of  geological  history. — Boston  Literary  World. 

The  author  is  an  able  opponent  of  the  theories  of  the  evolutionists, 
and  his  discussion  of  the  theme  is  interesting.  His  account  of  the  lowest 
and  earliest  form  of  animal  life  as  exemplified  in  what  he  calls  the 
"  dawn  animal,"  found  by  him  in  fossil  state  in  Canada,  is  of  special  in- 
terest.— Brooklyn  Eagle. 

The  last  two  chapters  of  the  work  on  "  Primitive  Man  "  contain  an 
unanswerable  argument  against  the  Darwinian  theory  of  evolution,  and 
will  be  found  invaluable  by  all  who  are  called  to  face  that  phase  of 
modern  infidelity.  We  most  earnestly  commend  the  volume. —  Chicago 
Interior. 

This  work  has  stood  the  test  of  criticism,  and  has  won  its  way  to  the 
position  of  a  standard  text-book.  The  learned  author  does  not  accept 
theories  for  scientific  facts,  nor  permit  himself  to  be  led  away  by  mere 
clamor.  He  goes  to  the  bottom  of  things,  and  gets  at  the  truth  if  possi- 
ble. He  does  not  presume  to  build  a  scientific  system  upon  finely  wrought 
suppositions.  What  is  known  of  the  history  of  the  earth  and"  man  the 
student  will  find  in  this  book.  It  comes  up  to  date  with  its  facts.  We 
do  not  know  its  equal  as  a  text-book  on  this  subject.  It  is  sufficiently 
illustrated,  and  beautifully  printed,  and  has  a  copious  index. — San  Fran- 
cisco Christian  Advocate. 

We  cannot  but  give  the  greatest  respect  to  the  writer  of  this  book, 
who  presents  so  vividly  the  history  of  the  world's  progress,  and  we  can- 
not but  express  admiration  for  that  clear  and  precise  style  he  possesses. 
— N.  Y.  Times.  

PUBLISHED  BY  HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  N.  Y. 

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THE   ORIGIN    OF  THE  WOULD. 

The  Origin  of  the  World,  according  to  Revelation  and 
Science.      By  J.  W.  DAWSOJT,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  F.G.S. 

12mo,  Cloth,  $2  00. 

The  revised  work  is  a  cyclopaedia  tliat  will  be  welcome  to  all  who  de- 
sire a  reconciliation  of  science  and  religion,  in  which  the  Scriptures  re- 
tain their  authority.  The  appendices  contain  valuable  scientific  criti- 
cism, and  the  treatise  meets  the  controversy  as  it  is  to-day. — North 
American,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

To  all  reverent  students  of  the  Bible  this  work  will  prove  a  valuable 
boon  in  enabling  them  to  determine  the  precise  import  of  Biblical  refer- 
ences to  creation,  and  how  these  may  be  harmonized  with  modern  dis- 
covery. ...  In  an  appendix  the  volume  furnishes  several  short  essays  on 
special  points  collateral  to  the  general  subject,  and  important  to  the  so- 
lution of  some  of  its  phases. — N.  Y.  Evangelist. 

Briefly  described,  the  book  is  a  singularly  suggestive  study  of  the  first 
chapter  of  Genesis  considered  as  an  inspired  revelation  in  the  light  of 
modern  science.— Evening  Post,  N.  Y. 

The  book  will  commend  itself  to  both  scholars  and  the  common  peo- 
ple ;  for,  while  the  latter  can  understand,  the  former  can  enjoy  it. —  The 
Churchman,  N.  Y. 

Although  most  scientists  and  many  theologians  will  doubtless  differ 
with  the  author's  conclusions,  yet  he  has  shown  so  much  ingenuity  and 
care  in  sustaining  them,  and  is  so  evidently  inspired  by  a  regard  for  what 
he  desires  to  be  the  truth,  that  his  book  will  command  the  attention  of 
candid  inquirers  of  whatever  shade  of  belief. — Boston  Globe. 

Mr.  Dawson  has  devoted  much  study  to  the  treatment  of  the  subject 
discussed  in  this  volume.  He  has  sought  to  get  at  the  truth  alone.  .  .  . 
The  writer's  style  is  clear  and  vigorous,  and  he  has  patiently  wrought 
out  his  theories  from  a  wide  and  comprehensive  range  of  observation. — 
Union- Argiis,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

The  work  treats  of  the  mystery  of  "  origins,"  the  beginning  of  crea- 
tion, the  "  desolate  void,"  the  various  created  objects — light,  land,  plants, 
animals,  and  finally  man,  whose  unity  of  origin  and  antiquity  are  made 
the  subject  of  two  chapters.  An  appendix,  containing  short  essays  on 
special  points,  is  a  valuable  feature  <>f  the  book. —  Observer,  N.  Y. 

Whether  the  reader  accepts  Dr.  Dawson's  conclusions  or  not,  he  will 
find  the  work  a  wonderfully  suggestive  study,  and  singularly  fair  in  its  treat- 
ment of  the  opinions  and  theories  it  antagonizes. — Free  Press,  Detroit,Mich. 

As  a  summary  of  creation,  the  book  is  lively  and  fresh.  It  will  be 
found  interesting  and  profitable  to  all  students  of  this  alluring  theme. — 
Christian  Advocate,  N.  Y. 

At  least  no  student  of  theology  can  afford  not  to  possess  this  most  ex- 
cellent work. — Pittsbnrg 


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